HS2 protest: 'More climb trees' at Roald Dahl wood eviction

The removal of about 40 HS2 protesters from a woodland that inspired Roald Dahl has entered a second day.

One of the activists in Jones' Hill Wood in Buckinghamshire claimed more people had climbed trees overnight.

Campaigners have been opposing the building of the London to Birmingham high-speed rail line through the woods for seven months but eviction teams arrived on Thursday.

An HS2 spokesperson said their removal was expected to take "several days".

Many of protesters are camped in makeshift treehouses. Three arrests were made by Thames Valley Police on Thursday.

Dahl wrote his stories in the Buckinghamshire town of Great Missenden, and classics like Fantastic Mr Fox are said to have taken inspiration from the wood.

Steve Masters, 50, who is one of those camped up a tree, said: "There's more of us in the trees now than there were last night."

The Green Party councillor on West Berkshire Council said the protesters "need to draw attention to what's going on with HS2 - it's going to decimate our environment and our way of life".

He said: "It's going to be a bit tense with evictions teams but we are non-violent, peaceful protesters and I will stay in this tree for as long as possible."

A spokesperson for HS2 said: "HS2 will be a cleaner, greener way to travel, offering some of the lowest carbon emissions per passenger kilometre, significantly less than cars and domestic air travel.

"It will take cars and lorries off the road and reduce the need for domestic air travel. This will lead to a reduction in carbon emissions and improving air quality."

Construction work officially began last month on HS2, which is set to link London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.

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