HS2 protesters are calling for the controversial project to be scrapped following a damning new report, and in light of uncertainty over the economy following last week’s Brexit vote.

Anti-HS2 campaigners are hopeful that the referendum result coupled with the prospect of a new government and possibly even a general election in the offing, will prompt Downing Street to call off the £56bn project which is due to be completed in 2033.

The report by the National Audit Office said the target opening date of the first phase in 2026 was “at risk despite good progress” and admitted the cost has risen by £3bn since November.

It also said £9billion worth of cuts to the project are being considered.

Hilary Wharf, a rail economist and director of campaign group HS2 Action Alliance, from Great Missenden, said scrapping it would allow for the money to be used in other ways.

She said: “It is no longer a transport project or a project that is being carried out for a good economy. It is now a political project.

“We do not need yet another rail link that goes from London to the north. We have enough links already. What we do not have is a link within the north itself.”

Stop HS2 campaign manager Joe Rukin said the report “raised serious questions” about the timescales, “increasing costs” and “reduced benefits” for HS2.

He said: “This is another in a long line of devastating reports about HS2, which in the past no-one has listened to.

“We can only hope that with a new Prime Minister on the cards, someone will finally pay attention and cancel this white elephant.”

This comes after MP for Amersham and Chesham Cheryl Gillan expressed her concerns at the uncertainty surrounding the project and said public finances would have to be “given careful consideration” following last week’s Brexit vote.

She said: “I am once again worried that there is uncertainty surrounding the delivery of this project, which only serves to drag out the pain and anguish of my constituents.

“My preferred solution would be to cancel the project because I do not feel that it will bring about the benefits which it professes to achieve, and I would put the resources in to infrastructure projects with a better return.”

This is despite the Department for Transport’s insistence the project is “on track” and “on course to start construction next year”.