CLIMATE activists blocked access to more than 20 building sites for the HS2 railway from London to Warwickshire today in protest at continued construction work during the coronavirus crisis. 

The group, called HS2 Rebellion, said that the work was non-essential and that failure to stop during the lockdown was putting the lives of workers and their families at risk.

Protesters said that health workers were still having to work without protective wear and that money used for construction projects should be channelled into medical supplies instead.

They held banners reading “NHS not HS2” to draw attention to the disparity of funding between new government projects and the “chronic underfunding” of the health service, HS2 Rebellion said.

Demonstrators wore gloves and face masks and remained two metres apart during the protest.

In London, some protesters scaled a tree using climbing equipment in front of the main building at Euston station. 

The Metropolitan Police said that officers engaged with the group but no arrests were made.