Euston tunnel protest: The activist who celebrated her 17th birthday in jail

Four climate change activists are risking their lives inside a network of manmade tunnels near Euston station in protest against the £106bn HS2 rail project. One of them is 18-year-old Blue Sandford, who has vowed to be underground for as long as it takes bailiffs to evict her.

It was early on Tuesday when a group of HS2 Rebellion protesters heard a team of bailiffs marching towards their Euston Square Gardens campsite.

The campaigners have occupied the land since August, but HS2 requires possession of it so it can build a temporary taxi rank outside Euston station.

It was an eviction attempt the protesters knew was coming, so to thwart their forcible removal they have spent the past two months digging a tunnel they claim is 100ft (30m) long.

The tunnel has been widely condemned by officials and drew criticism from Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, who said the protesters' actions were "reckless, irresponsible and deeply concerning".

But it was criticism Ms Sandford and her fellow activists knew would be coming.

"I was already awake; we were doing stuff through the night when they came very suddenly," she recalls. "I heard the shout and I just jumped down and stayed down in the tunnel.

"I couldn't really hear people and there was so much adrenaline. Everyone is safe and fine.

"My mum is really scared and worried about me. Both parents feel quite heartbroken that I need to do this but also really proud and [they are] trying to support me and help me in any way they can.

"We have had some communication with them [the National Eviction Team]. They are going to be as safe as possible and say there will be no surprises [while digging the protesters out].

"We have been working on this for so long, getting organised. It has been a secret until the BBC published an article."

Ms Sandford, a published author on climate change, says digging the tunnel - codenamed "Kelvin" - is the activists' "best defence" against being evicted, but admits it is a very dangerous, even life-threatening, thing to have done.

Planks of reclaimed wood have been used to shore up the tunnel, but that hasn't prevented partial collapses already and the authorities have warned that the protesters risk being buried alive.

Ms Sandford, from London, maintains the activists are not intent on "martyring themselves" - their sole intention is delaying - or even stopping - the HS2 project, she says.

"HS2 is a waste of money and time," Ms Sandford adds. "By the government's own admission, it will be heavily polluting and carbon intensive while demand for mass transit is falling and home working is the new norm for many people.

"I'm angry that the government is still effectively ignoring this crisis despite declaring a Climate and Ecological Emergency two years ago. I'm in this tunnel because they are irresponsibly putting my life at risk from the Climate and Ecological Emergency.

"I shouldn't have to do this - I should be in school - the trouble is, they are stealing that future and I have to stop them."

Ms Sandford would only say her school was in London, but that it had "not taught her the truth" about the ecological emergency facing the planet.

In the summer of 2019 she joined thousands of Extinction Rebellion protesters in central London as parts of the capital ground to a halt.

She draws inspiration from her father Roc Sandford, who is the laird of the Hebridean isle of Gometra and describes himself on LinkedIn as an "Extinction Rebellion catalyser".

Located off the west coast of Scotland, the few residents of the remote island live off the grid with no electricity or cars.

"My dad is an environmental activist and has been for some time," she says. "He has been involved in Extinction Rebellion and I went along in 2019 and started hearing all these facts and got terrified and depressed.

"One that I heard was that by 2050, 5bn people will be facing water shortages which was from a UN water report published 2018. I couldn't believe it."

Despite the growing profile of Extinction Rebellion, the teenager still feels that not enough people see climate change as a real problem.

Her activism led her to take part in the second set of Extinction Rebellion protests in October 2019, when police arrested more than 1,100 demonstrators. This time Ms Sandford was one of them.

"It was for obstruction of the highway," she says. "I was on a scaffolding tower glued on in the middle of The Strand and [was] carried down and taken to Dagenham police station."

While in the cell overnight, Ms Sandford turned 17 years old. She used the time behind bars to think about her future and realised this was a fight she wanted to continue with.

She adds: "I thought about it for a long time and just thought I couldn't vote at that time so I felt like voting wasn't working.

"I didn't have any options. I saw these people getting arrested, making a difference, and I just threw myself at it."

In recent months Ms Sandford has joined up with other HS2 Rebellion protesters, spending two months in Euston Square Gardens and also in camps along the line which will link London and the Midlands.

Ms Sandford says she is currently on a long-running school strike - something inspired by an initiative called FridaysForFuture that was started by young Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.

A Sunday Times article described Ms Sandford as Britain's answer to the famous Swedish campaigner, although it's a comparison she wants to distance herself from.

"It irritates me a bit, but I put up with it," she says. "It is a compliment to be compared to her as she is amazing. But I don't like the comparison because it is not about individuals and that could be detracting from our message.

"I don't want to be a role model, but I think it is an amazing thing to inspire people. What I learned through activism was to break the rules and do what I wanted to do, so I want to spread that."

Breaking the rules might draw attention to the activists' cause, but it can also be dangerous.

Water mains run through Euston Square Gardens and if these are damaged the protesters risk being drowned or suffocated, Department for Transport officials warned on Thursday.

Nevertheless, Ms Sandford and the other protesters have no intention of giving up.

"When we are out I think we will all be arrested pretty quickly," she admits. "There are four of us down here now but I am not chained, although some people are.

"The longest tunnel eviction was six weeks. I'm prepared to stay here for as long as it takes."