HS2 bosses say they will continue to review their plans after campaigners warned that ambulance routes could be severely disrupted by construction traffic.

Fears were raised last week that the main route from High Wycombe to Stoke Mandeville Hospital could be hampered by the hundreds of extra vehicles expected to use the route, potentially leading to “serious consequences” for people in a life-threatening situation.

HS2 Ltd lead spokesman, Ben Ruse, said: “At HS2, safety is at the heart of everything we do, be it for people working on the line, for our neighbours and for local communities along the route.

“That’s why, as we continue to develop our construction plans, we will make it a priority to develop a suitable package of measures to ensure that response times are kept within acceptable and independently verified limits.”

He added: “We recognise that we should mitigate any potential risk to ambulance response times and we are already in discussion with the South Central Ambulance Service and relevant local authorities.

“We will keep reviewing and improving our plans and I am confident that we will get a suitable package of measures in place in good time for the start of construction in 2017.

As part of plans, Mr Ruse said that community safety champions for each area will be appointed and temporary outreach ambulance bases will be established during construction.

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