Councillors are furious after a high-speed railway company started work without informing authorities.

Three Rivers District Council has written to Transport Secretary Chris Grayling claiming that HS2 ignored a requirement that the company should inform local authorities before starting any work.

It said HS2 should have applied for planning permission before starting work at a site in Tilehouse Lane, Maple Cross, but failed to do this and had to submit a retrospective application.

The council said it fears for the future if the high-speed rail company is already flouting guidelines. Work on the railway line, that links London to Birmingham, the East Midlands, Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester, is expected to last at least eight years in the Maple Cross area.

The Chiltern Tunnel and Colne Valley Viaduct will need to be built for the HS2. Proposals include excavation and depositing of more than 12 million tonnes of material to form what HS2 calls the West Hyde Embankment, and houses would have to be built to accommodate the influx of workers.

Three Rivers District Council leader Cllr Sara Bedford said: “The HS2 Bill has not even received Royal Assent, but already the project is showing a flagrant disregard for the undertakings given, and riding roughshod over local residents.”

In the letter addressed to Mr Grayling, Geoff Muggeridge, director of community and environmental services, says: “It is clear from this event that the controls set out in the Bill, which are intended to protect local people from harm, have not been effective.”

The council is also concerned about the impact the development will have on traffic in Maple Cross.

The council wanted Mr Grayling to put in the Bill that lorries could not use residential roads in the Maple Cross area if the M25 was blocked, but he denied the request.

Cllr Bedford said: "In addition, the failure of the Secretary of State to give real undertakings that lorries will not use local roads risks additional congestion on the A412 and threatens the safety of children at Maple Cross School."

But HS2 has disputed the claims. It says it advised the council in August 2016 that investigation work would take place in November. It also said that a planning application is only required for work that takes place from mid-December onwards.

Speaking on behalf of HS2, Clive Green said: “All the processes we have followed to undertake these works in the area are no different to those set out in the Environmental Minimum Requirements.

“We have kept both the local authority and local residents abreast of these works, when they will start and what they entail.”

HS2 said all ground investigation works should be completed by Christmas, with the compound removed and site restored to its previous condition by January.