Wildlife figures 'not reliable ' - HS2

HS2 Ltd have responded to a report by a coalition of wildlife charities that claims they had underestimated the rail line 's impact on habitats and wildlife by missing trees, ponds and hedgerows off maps.

A HS2 Ltd spokesperson told the BBC that the organisation "didn't recognise the figures" nor did it "believe them to be reliable".

"The Wildlife Trusts have undertaken limited desk research and have not accessed huge areas of land for undertaking ecological survey, in contrast to the ecologists who have compiled HS2's data," the spokesperson added.

They added that it was reviewing its assessment methodology, and intended to "align more closely with the government's biodiversity metric once it is published in the coming months".

The trusts are calling for construction to be paused and for the government to require HS2 Ltd to re-evaluate the impact construction has on nature.

The Wildlife Trusts said their investigation took a year to complete.

"In addition to the catalogue of errors when assessing the pre-existing nature, this audit found that HS2 Ltd's metric (its 'accounting tool' for assessing impacts on nature) is untested, out of date and fundamentally flawed," they said.

Using HS2 Ltd's data where possible, the report claimed that Phase One, which covers 140 miles of track between London and the West Midlands, would cause almost eight times "more nature loss" than accounted for by HS2 Ltd's calculations.