THE Leader of Buckinghamshire County Council has said he is not planning to give more money away to HS2 campaign groups.

Martin Tett said he would consider any applications for funding made to the council but is not planning to splash the cash.

Bucks County Council was one of many local authorities that contributed towards the cost of an appeal against the controversial project at the High Court.

But Cllr Tett said the council was now focusing on drawing up the 'Bucks Blueprint', a document which he said would set out "all the key issues in terms of mitigation in the county".

He said: "We will continue to campaign against it. A lot of focus is preparing mitigation."

Council money has previously been given to the Amersham-based HS2 Action Alliance as part of the fight against the scheme and Cllr Tett said: "If they asked us we'd consider it but I'm not proposing to give any more money. I'm very aware this is council tax payers' money we are spending. I think we've spent it wisely so far."

The HS2 Action Alliance announced recently they were considering taking an appeal against the government's failure to carry out an important environmental assessment to the European Court of Justice.

Cllr Tett said the group continued to have the full backing of the council but he was "not going to influence" their decision on whether to take the case to Europe.