Works and Engineering officials are expected to make an apology to the people of St. George's today for the unauthorised work carried out on the old post office.

The St. George's Preservation Authority obtained an injunction on Tuesday stopping work after Works and Engineering contractors ripped out the roof and cedar beams in the historic building without permission from the Authority.

Authority chairman Henry Hayward met officials from the Works and Engineering Department and Attorney General's Chambers yesterday in Hamilton to discuss the fiasco.

An informed source told The Royal Gazette yesterday: "Someone from Works and Engineering will be sent as an emissary to meet the St. George's people tomorrow and will eat humble pie."

Works and Engineering Minister Alex Scott was bullish about the controversy on Monday night, claiming his contractors did have permission to carry out the work.

In any case, he claimed permission was not needed from St. George's Preservation Authority because it was a Government building.

But Mr. Hayward emphatically rejected this. All work in the Preservation Area must be approved by the Authority and no permission had been sought or granted.

Neither did the contractors have approval from the Planning Department, he added.

Yesterday Mr. Hayward was guarded following his meeting with civil servants to try to resolve the debacle.

He told The Royal Gazette the meeting with Government officials was "to discuss the situation as far as the injunction that was taken out and where do we take it from here.

"I have nothing to say other than that we are continuing discussions. There will be more meetings."

The controversy will be top of the agenda when the St. George's Preservation Authority meets today.

On Monday night, before the injunction was served, Mr. Scott said if the injunction was applied for and failed, he would bill Mr. Hayward for the cost of lost man-hours on the renovation project.

The Royal Gazette has learned that the Preservation Authority wrote to Mr. Scott earlier this year pointing out that no permission had been granted for the work, but the Minister said he did not need consent.

It is understood work on the project also stopped for a period.

News that work had been carried out on the grade two listed building without permission was greeted with anger on Tuesday by Bermuda National Trust.

The old post office was a former jail and was build in 1760. It stands on the site of the Island's first prison, built by Governor Nathaniel Butler in 1622.

National Trust President Henry Ming called the unauthorised work a "desecration" which was "inexcusable".

He said a full explanation was needed to find out how a Government department had managed to blatantly flout the planning and conservation rules of the Old Town.

Television reports that the cedar beams had been sold off were dismissed by Mr. Scott, who said on Tuesday the protected wood was in storage.

Government Information Services was expected to issue a statement yesterday from Mr. Scott on the latest development, but no word was heard by Press time last night.