HS2 rail protest banners vanish in night

Banners put up by protesters fighting plans for the HS2 high speed railway line have disappeared overnight.



About 20 posters and banners put up along the road between Kenilworth and Coventry have vanished and campaigners believe they have been stolen.

The banners were part of a vociferous campaign against the proposed high speed rail London to Birmingham route which would see 250mph “bullet trains” plough through the Crackley Gap on the outskirts of Coventry.

Campaigners were left upset after banners in gardens and on farmland were taken as well as posters fixed on to lamp-posts.

Those taken include two large canvas banners, measuring around 10ft in length.

Joe Rukin, chairman of the Kenilworth Action Group, said: “It’s terrible. A lot of money has gone in to buying those. This is a massive fight against government policy – that’s what we are up against.

“We’re doing this on donations and someone has stolen our material, which hard-working people have paid for.”

Residents awoke on Sunday to find the road had been combed for protest material.

One of the banners was taken from Millburn Grange farm, which will see a 15-ft high viaduct slice through its 220 acres.