The eviction of anti-HS2 activists from a protest camp in Wendover began in the early hours of Sunday morning, involving around 100 security staff and police officers.
The location of the Wendover Active Resistance camp, just off the A413 London Road, lies on the intended construction route of HS2.
Protesters set up residence there two years ago, saying on their Facebook page that they wished to preserve the woods which “are part of our literary, cultural and social history, inspiring Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox.”
At 06:30am, an eviction team led by the National Eviction Team (NET), a private security firm used on previous occasions by HS2, began the destruction of the camp.
A spokesperson for HS2 provided the following statement: “This land is legally owned by HS2 Ltd and needed for the construction of the railway.
“The inhabitants of this camp have spent the past year subjecting our staff to a campaign of physical attacks and abuse which has led to a number of people being hospitalised.
“We are now working to clear the area so our staff can continue their work.”
Speaking to Bucks Radio, anti-HS2 campaigner Mark Keir, said in support of the activists: “[HS2] has demolished the laws and protections that our democracy has put in place and everything is amounting to this miasma of utter destruction.”
Responding to historic accusations of violence committed by some residents of the camp, Mr Keir added: “They haven’t got any evidence, but we have evidence that their story is a fabrication and we’ve handed that to them, we’ve handed it to the courts and we’ve handed it to Buckinghamshire Council.”
Thames Valley Police were overseeing the operation on Sunday, which required intermittent closing of the A413, causing long tailbacks. Ambulance staff were also in attendance.
The camp includes well-built treehouses that required NET to deploy a crane to approach the site from above. There are also protesters holed up in tunnels, meaning the eviction is likely to take a number of days to complete.
HS2 (High Speed 2) is a 155-mile high speed rail line being built to connect London to Manchester and Leeds via Birmingham.
Originally estimated to cost between £30.9 billion - £36 billion in 2010, it is now expected to cost over £100 billion.
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