THE man leading the fight against High Speed 2 has called the Government's approval of the scheme an “immensely bad decision for Britain”.

Martin Tett, the Tory Leader of Buckinghamshire County Council and head of the 51m alliance of authorities opposed to HS2, has condemned the announcement this morning.

Other key players in the battle have warned the Government this is not the end of their efforts to defeat HS2, while Wycombe MP Steve Baker has reiterated his opposition.

Cllr Tett said: "At a time of national austerity with rising unemployment and a massive deficit how can spending more than £32 billion on a rail line be justified?

“Virtually all objective analysts have condemned this project.

“The business case is fundamentally flawed, it doesn't deliver the extra capacity where and when it is needed on the main commuter routes and it fails to help regenerate manufacturing industry in this country."

The county's Tory chief was joined in his criticism by other leading figures in the battle to stop the rail proposal.

Independent Chiltern District Councillor Seb Berry, representing Great Missenden, said: "Today's decision makes the position of Ministers elected on a stop HS2 platform less than two years ago utterly untenable.

“Far from stopping HS2, local MPs such as Cheryl Gillan and David Lidington share collective government responsibility for the decision to proceed.

“The quiet word with Cabinet colleagues approach has demonstrably failed."

Councillor Nick Rose, Conservative, Leader of Chiltern District Council, said: "The much cheaper alternative of upgrading existing lines and investing now in local infrastructure projects across all regions seems to have been ignored.

“Improving the road and rail services that people actually use may be less prestigious but is far more effective in guaranteeing jobs and economic growth when we need it.

"The so-called 'mitigation measures' still leave an environmental horror story and are just an attempt to divide the opponents of HS2. They will not succeed - we remain united in our opposition.

"Importantly, this decision is not the end of the campaign to persuade the Government to see sense.

“We are inspired by those who fought against previous Government schemes, such as the Third Runway at Heathrow, to continue our campaign.

“Like them we will consider all our options and, I am confident that we will succeed."

Wycombe MP Steve Baker, Conservative, said: “The Government has made the decision on high-speed rail which we expected.

"I have opposed HS2 since my arrival in Parliament and I will continue to do so.

"I do not believe the project is in the country’s best interests but, as can be seen from the debate and the Transport Committee report which I opposed, opinion is polarised.

"I am sure debate and opposition will continue."