A REPORT published today (8) by Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust says HS2 has hugely undervalued natural habitats.

It concludes that wildlife is being destroyed by construction along the high-speed rail route, while the impact of nature compensation measures is over-estimated.

HS2 considers the report unreliable. A spokesperson said: “The report is based on limited desk research. Our data is based on extensive surveys by ecologists visiting huge areas of land.

“HS2 works with independent environmental organisations, to verify our data, but the wildlife trust refused to meet, despite many requests.”

HS2 will cut a swathe through Hertfordshire and Middlesex, and the trust’s Broadwater Lake nature reserve is being carved in two by construction of the Colne Valley Viaduct.

The trust says HS2 promised nature would not lose out when important habitats were destroyed to make way for the high-speed line.

But the report found problems with the way nature is being valued.

As an example, it says many species-rich hedgerows, which provide berries, shelter and nesting places for wildlife, were given a lower nature value than the new hedgerows HS2 will plant to replace them.

It says HS2’s 'accounting tool' for assessing impacts on nature is untested, out of date and fundamentally flawed.

Dr Rachel Giles, author of the report, says HS2 should urgently recalculate the total loss to nature.

HS2 says it will be planting seven million trees and will get cars and lorries off the road as well as reducing domestic flying.