Inside the 'eerie' village on proposed HS2 line where mansions lie empty and locals 'suffer'

Mansions lie empty while local residents 'suffer' in an 'eerie' village on the proposed HS2 line.

Whitmore Heath in Staffordshire has become a ghost town after HS2 purchased 35 properties in the rural hamlet - where the average property price was £600,000. The homes were compulsorily purchased by the government, as the train line was due to pass underneath several multi million-pound mansions in the area.

But residents said they have been left feeling 'numb' after Rishi Sunak announced that West Midlands to Manchester line would be scrapped. Because people have moved out, remaining residents said the empty properties have caused a range of issues - and revealed squatters now live in the houses.

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Edward Cavenagh-Mainwairing, 61, was born in the village and is the 33rd generation of his family to live there. He said there is no longer a sense of community in the area - and claimed three properties are now used as cannabis farms.

Mr Cavenagh-Mainwairing said: "When you walk around the area, it's a bit sad to see it all locked up and three houses are now used for cannabis. There was a sense of community, but now there isn't.

"HS2 has strengthened us all together in a way - because we are all suffering from it. But hearing the news about it being scrapped made me feel numb, it's still not a victory because it's confirmation that it was a really bad decision.

"It should have been stopped earlier - a lot of people's lives should have not been upset to the degree it has been."

One security guard, who asked to remain anonymous, said they had been hired to guard the house as