A re-elected independent councillor believes legislation allowing HS2 to be built is a formality due to a lack of 'effect' in last week's elections.

Seb Berry retained his Chiltern District Council seat for Great Missenden, having originally been voted in on an anti HS2 ticket.

Many Bucks residents are firmly opposed to HS2 and prior to the election there had been an expectation UKIP - the only party to publicly oppose the rail project - could claim some seats in areas affected by the route of the planned line.

But they failed to make any inroads and it was a similar story in the local elections, as CDC's sole UKIP representative, David Meacock, lost his seat.

Cllr Berry, who increased his share of the vote by 12 per cent, warned: "A Tory majority government will now ram HS2 through as quickly as possible, buoyed by the complete absence of any HS2 "effect" at constituency level in the south in last week's elections.

"The only upside is that Cheryl Gillan and David Lidington have now run out of political excuses. The Conservative party locally can no longer blame Labour and the Lib Dems for the disastrous HS2 route through the AONB and its woefully inadequate mitigation, as they have done in the past.

"At the very least, a Tory Prime Minister, Chancellor, Transport Secretary and majority government must now deliver a full AONB tunnel and lift the blight that has ruined so many lives over the last five years.

"They can and should do so as quickly as possible, at a stroke making the Select Committee AONB petitioning process due later this year largely redundant and ending HS2 misery for thousands of local people. If they don't Cheryl Gillan is going to have a lot of explaining to do."