AN MP has helped objectors from a North Yorkshire village petition Parliament against HS2.

Selby and Ainsty MP Nigel Adams assisted residents of Church Fenton in taking advantage of a Parliamentary procedure called “petitioning” to put forward their opposition to the construction of the high-speed railway.

Under the HS2 proposals, a spur linking the new high-speed line to the East Coast mainline south of York would cut through the outskirts of the village near Tadcaster, with several homes subject to compulsory purchase orders.

Mr Adams, who delivered the petitions to the Commons a day before deadline, said they were not lists of signatures but a process whereby people who were directly and specially affected by the provisions of a Bill could petition against it.

“The petitions have to be submitted in a special format to the Private Bill office in Parliament and have to be delivered in person or by the Member of Parliament,” he said.

“A lot of work will have gone into the preparation of the petitions and it would have been a shame if the tight deadline for submitting the work was missed.”

He said the Bill for Phase 1 of HS2 from London to Birmingham was now at the committee stage, at which all aspects of it were examined in detail.

“Petitioners may be called to give their evidence in person before a select committee. The hearings are expected to be held in July.”

Mr Adams said the petition process was concerned with Phase 1.

But the same process would be followed for the section which would be built from Birmingham to Leeds and Manchester, which would affect Church Fenton.

He added: “However, there is a long way to go before it reaches this stage. There are still key decisions to be taken about the link from Leeds to the East Coast Mainline and these are not expected until the end of this year.

“After that, it will require another Bill to be put before Parliament and only if this is passed will there be a petition process for this section, likely to be in 2016.”