By Amy Orton

Leicestershire County Council leader Nick Rushton has welcomed the news that HS2 is to press ahead through the East Midlands - skirting Measham and Ashby.

Reacting to the news the project will happen, but with a review of Phase 2b of the route, Cllr Rushton said: "We welcome the expected Government announcement on HS2 as it will bring significant economic benefits to Leicestershire and the wider economy and radically improve connectivity to cities in the north.

"We're committed to playing a full and pro-active role in representing county communities as we want to put Leicestershire in the strongest-possible position to get the most out of HS2 as well as mitigating the impacts of its construction on local residents.

"We'll be closely following a further review of the second phase of the project, and we'd hope that one of its outcomes would result in better connectivity, particularly for the Midland Main Line."

A recently published report, written by Leicestershire County Council, said that HS2 could mean £30 million in benefits for the county.

North West Leicestershire MP Andrew Bridgen is against the project, saying it will bring a total of '27 years of blight' to the area and predicting the final cost will be £200billion.