'Nightmare' of living in village divided by HS2

Residents speak out over vibrations, noise and dust blight

- ED CHATTERTON News Reporter

FAMILIES living in a village on the HS2 track have told of their nightmare as a huge tunnel has carved their community in half.

Burton Green, in Warwickshire, now lies completely divided by a construction site as work continues to build the Burton Green Tunnel.

When plans were announced for the tunnel, the village was named as potentially being the worst affected area, and now pictures show how the works have carved straight through the middle of the picturesque village making life a “daily nightmare”, according to local residents.

Villagers say their homes vibrate due to the machinery while dust and dirt reaches into gardens.

Many residents have already moved away and those who have remained say their lives have been blighted in the village, which dates back to the 1500s and has around 600 residents.

Grandmother-of-one Eileen Thompson, 77, a retired secretary, has lived in Burton Green for six years.

She said: “It has just been absolutely horrendous.

“The dust, the dirt, the noise all the diversions and road closures, it has literally split our village in two.

“There's been all the destruction of the greenery and lots of wildlife displaced. Sometimes if I’m sitting in my house I can feel the whole place vibrating.