AN ENVIRONMENTAL group has had to employ someone solely to read government documents on HS2 - saying it's the equivalent of reading 'War and Peace' every other day.

Consultation documents on the rail project's Environmental Statement released after the HS2 Hybrid Bill had its first reading in Parliament on Monday run to an estimated 50,000 pages.

The Woodland Trust were among the groups to say the timescale that had been given to read through and respond to the document - 56 days - was unfair because of the amount of material that had been released.

The Trust's Policy Director Hilary Allison said: "We have recruited a full time conservation expert whose sole priority over the coming weeks will be the dissection of these documents. The enormity of the task is undeniable given the immense length of the document.

"The government must understand that the loss of irreplaceable habitats like ancient woodland can never be undone. There is only one chance to ensure the best possible outcome for the environment."

The Trust said reading the whole document within the 56 days was equivalent to having to get through around 900 pages each day.

They said assuming each A4 page contains 400 words, that comes to more than 20million words - and the Trust added the classic Leo Tolstoy novel 'War and Peace' contained 560,000 words, meaning the Environmental Statement contains 36 times that amount.

Meanwhile the 51m campaign group made up of local authorities affected by the route of the line say they are "appalled at the undue haste of this government to push this Bill through".

Vice chairman Ray Puddifoot, who is also Leader of Hillingdon Council, said: "People do not want their money wasted on this economically and environmentally disastrous white elephant.

"During the government’s own consultation on the principle of HS2 in 2011 the public response was overwhelmingly against it. Two years later it is still the same. All through this summer both public and expert opinion has continued to say HS2 is a bad idea. But the government has chosen to ignore the views of the people and financial, rail and business experts and show a level of detachment from reality that beggars belief."

Cllr Puddifoot added: "The timing of the Hybrid Bill is also indicative of a lack of respect for the views and the rights of the electorate. They [the government] give both local authorities and residents a very small window of opportunity in which to respond - just 35 working days. By launching something as important as this just before the Christmas holidays and cutting down the time we have to respond shows a level of desperation and a practical contempt for public consultation.

"Once that Hybrid Bill gets to its Second Reading stage in mid-March, there will be no further chance for public consultation so to steal two weeks from the process simply shows how desperate the Government are to avoid proper scrutiny."

Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin said: "HS2 is the most ambitious and important infrastructure project in the UK since we built the M25 30 years ago, and in 30 more it will be just as integral a part of the nation’s prosperity.

"The Bill will give us the powers we need to get the railway built and start delivering the extra room on our railways that this country so desperately needs. It will also start the process of rebalancing the economy and bringing our great cities closer together.

"That is why the Bill is so important - it marks the move from aspiration to delivery. Now is the time to be bold and ensure HS2 becomes a reality."