The leader of Ealing Council has given his reaction to this morning's HS2 ruling by the Supreme Court in London.

The court rejected an appeal brought by anti-HS2 campaigners against the controversial high speed rail scheme, on the grounds that the UK Government should have carried out an environmental study before going ahead.            

All three legal challenges – by the HS2 Action Alliance, the 51M group of local authorities and Heathrow Hub Ltd – were turned down by the court, which concluded the government can adjust the legislation as it proceeds, to accommodate concerns over the environmental impact.            

Leader of Ealing's Labour run council, Julian Bell , said: "This indicates the approach that Ealing Council took not to join the 51M Group and seek judicial review but to work actively with HS2, which lead successfully to the agreement of a tunnel through Ealing, minimising environmental impact on our residents.            

“We are still engaging strongly with HS2 to mitigate the impact on the residents of Wells House Road and are still forcefully putting across our views on behalf of local residents.”