THE Government will be taken to court in the battle to stop High Speed 2, it has been confirmed.

A united group of councils has announced it is following through on its threat for legal action.

The '51m' alliance has launched a judicial review and said its lawyers believe there is a substantial case to be made.

And the HS2 Action Alliance has also revealed it is launching two separate judicial reviews itself - over environmental issues and compensation.

There has been some controversy over spending taxpayers' money on the fight – with some pointing to the peculiarity of Conservative councils opposing their national colleagues in Government.

But Buckinghamshire County Council Leader Cllr Martin Tett, also Chairman of 51m, insisted it is in the public interest.

The group have argued that far from being 'nimbys' the £33bn scheme is against the national interest because it is poorly conceived and unaffordable in times of austerity.

Cllr Tett said: "We are doing this with great reluctance but feel that the Government has left us with no alternative.

“They effectively excluded over half those affected by the proposal from participating in the consultation and in practice ignored the views of over 50,000 people and businesses who did respond.”

The legal challenge centres on claims the Government failed to firstly, consult properly on various aspects of the plans, and secondly, to assess the environmental impact adequately.

Cllr Tett said: “It is clear that there is a much cheaper and more efficient alternative way to meet growth in demand.

“This would benefit far more towns and cities in the Midlands and north of England and avoid knocking down hundreds of houses outside Euston Station.

“We have clear legal advice that there is a substantial case to be made against the Government for the cavalier way they took this decision. “ “We have obviously thought long and hard about whether to launch a judicial review, or not.

“Legal proceedings are always expensive. But in this case we believe that it is in the public interest for Buckinghamshire County Council and councils within 51m to mount this challenge.”

HS2 Action Alliance said in a statement: "We have two strong legal teams who are specialists in their fields and believe we have two powerful cases that Government must now answer."

The Government has insisted the scheme is vital for the future of the country's rail and transport network.

It has said it will aid economic prosperity, bridge the north-south divide and provide essential increased capacity on the congested railways.

There has been broad cross party support for the scheme in Parliament.