ICKENHAM Residents’ Association has issued a formal plea to extend the proposed HS2 tunnel beyond Ruislip.

The group says it has been caught in a ‘catch-22’ situation while it waits to find out if a junction for a spur route to Heathrow Airport is to be built on their section of the high-speed line.

Transport Secretary Justine Greening has said she will announce the route for Phase 2, which includes Heathrow, in the autumn. But IRA argue that, in the meantime, they are in limbo.

Committee member John Collins said: “How can HS2 hold a meaningful forum in Hillingdon if they do not tell us where the spurs to Heathrow are going to be run?”

It was revealed at a community forum in March that the HS2 tunnel proposed for under Ruislip had stopped short of Ickenham because an area between the tunnel portal at West Ruislip Station and Harvil Road was designated as a possible junction for the spur.

If such a spur is not chosen as a preferred route the longer tunnel could be reconsidered.

Mr Collins continued: “The arguments to extend the tunnel beyond West Ruislip are compelling – it will remove the possibility of noise blight from over 1,800 households in Ickenham, north and west Ruislip, and save Ruislip Golf Course.”

HS2 will be a main point of discussion at IRA’s annual meeting in Ickenham Village Hall this Friday, starting at 7.30pm, and at an event hosted by UKIP at the same venue on Saturday at 5pm where leader, Nigel Farage, is due to speak.