WORK to divert electricity lines to make way for HS2 in the Chilterns would last for a year and cost up to £27million, an MP said this week.

Chesham and Amersham MP Cheryl Gillan met with representatives from the National Grid to discuss the impact of work in her constituency.

She was told an overhead power line would need to be diverted to make way for one of the 'green tunnels' that would carry the planned high speed rail line from London to Birmingham.

Mrs Gillan said: "The estimated costs of the work locally would be around £27 million and National Grid estimate the time taken to do the work between Great Missenden and Aylesbury will be around a year."

The money will come from the budget that has already been set aside for HS2, which currently stands at close to £50billion.

Mrs Gillan added: "On behalf of my constituents, I would like to thank National Grid for taking the time and trouble to set out all the information. I know that my constituents have many concerns and I appreciate that National Grid was prepared to have a dialogue and to be open about the scale of the works which they will have to carry out, associated with HS2."

Meanwhile residents have been urged to submit their responses to the HS2 project's environmental consultation before Thursday's deadline by an Amersham-based campaign group.

The HS2 Action Alliance has created a web tool that will enable people who live near the route of the planned line to submit a response in less than a minute.

Richard Houghton of the Alliance said: "This is the last opportunity for people to have their say on the environmental impacts of HS2 before Parliament starts to consider the project after Easter.

"There is potentially nine years of construction, including road closures and diversions, and thousands of movements of equipment, trucks and excavators as they move 128 million tonnes of spoil - enough to fill 862 Albert Halls - on the way to destroying ancient woodland and important habitats for a vast array of wildlife.

"We are working with leading independent experts in the fields of carbon, waste, noise, landscape and biodiversity to present a comprehensive independent assessment of the environmental impact of HS2.  We think this is vital but we know there are many thousands of individual citizens who share our concerns and so we urge them to make their own views known by responding to the Government's consultation before the February 27 deadline."

The web tool can be accessed at www.hs2aa.org/es-2014.