MP Michael Fabricant urges rethink on £32bn HS2 rail plan

A Staffordshire Tory MP has told the Government it should re-think plans for a controversial £32 billion high- speed rail line.

MP Michael Fabricant said the proposal, which will bring 225mph trains to the West Midlands and cut through land near Lichfield, was "not the only answer to high-speed travel and rail gridlock".

It comes ahead of the Department of Transport closing consultation on High Speed 2 (HS2) on July 29.

The Lichfield MP is rebelling against his own party with his objections to the proposed line, which would open between London and Birmingham in 2026 with a Y-shaped spur later set to run to Leeds and Manchester.

But he has admitted that although the environmental impact on Staffordshire would be "considerable as it passes through unspoiled countryside", the impact on his Lichfield constituency was "far less now the original plan to construct a viaduct over the eastern side of the city has been abandoned"