Famililes and farmers were 'turfed out' their homes for HS2 - now there are calls to compensate them

Calls have been made to compensate the 'completely heartbroken' farmers who lost their land and the families ‘turfed out’ of their ‘forever homes’ because of the cancelled HS2 line.

Residents in a Staffordshire village where HS2 bought up family homes to make way for the line to Manchester must be compensated, a local councillor has said.

It comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed the Manchester to Birmingham leg of HS2 would be been cancelled.

Coun Jamie Stephenson, the chairman of Madeley Parish Council, near Stoke-on-Trent, said the controversial rail project has already had a “major impact” on the villages of Madeley, Whitmore and others nearby despite still being in the early stages of work, with farmers “turfed out” of their land and family homes emptied.

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Coun Stephenson said the decision should have been made years ago to save residents from stress and heartache.

He said: “We have had loads of farmers who have had their land compulsory purchased, some of them have been left completely heartbroken because these farms were their whole lives, some were born there and grew up there and they have been taken away from them and they don’t really understand why.”

Coun Stephenson said “95 per cent” of people in the area were against the project, but those who have had their homes purchased by HS2 will be “shocked and appalled” to hear it has now been cancelled. He added that the situation has left an “absolute mess” to sort out and said villagers need to be compensated.

“People have bought houses thinking they will be there forever