Activists at the first and longest-running protest camp against the controversial HS2 high-speed rail development were evicted in the early hours of Saturday morning. The camp, at Harvil Road in the Colne Valley, Hillingdon, 25 miles west of the Euston tunnel protest against HS2, which has now entered its 17th day, was set up three and a half years ago. It has been the subject of several high court actions as HS2 sought and obtained injunctions to evict environmental activists from various parts of the site. Seven activists were evicted soon after midnight by dozens of black-clad members of the National Eviction Team (NET) supported by police officers. Four environmental activists had erected hammocks in trees and three were on the ground. One activist could be seen on the ground surrounded by members of NET screaming: “Can you get off me so I can stand up. Ow!” A NET bailiff can be heard saying: “You are on HS2 property I’m afraid.” “We really don’t need the level of aggression you are putting towards us,” the protester can be heard saying. Protesters said the eviction was swift. In previous high court cases relating to the eviction of parts of the Harvil road site protesters were told that while they were being removed from parts of the site they could still exercise their legitimate right to protest at a camp on the side of the highway. Now that camp has been dismantled. “Harvil Road Wildlife Protection Camp is no more,” said Mark Keir, a longstanding environmental protester at the site. “But this is not the end of the line for us. We will find other ways to protest against the HS2 development. The camp, once in a green and verdant landscape, is surrounded now by mile after mile of building site and endless floodlights at night. Last night’s eviction of Harvil Rd Wildlife Protection Camp was one of the most brutal we have yet seen. A vast army of 40 against a very doughty seven activists.” In September 2020 the high court issued its latest injunction barring protesters from the HS2 site. Opponents of HS2 have pointed to its spiralling costs and the destruction of trees and wildlife to make way for the rail line. The Colne Valley nature reserve is home to a variety of fauna and flora including bats, owls and osprey. Protesters claim that pile-driving into an aquifer (an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock) on the site, which supplies almost a quarter of London’s water, will cause serious damage to this water supply. HS2 denies there will be any damage. Meanwhile at the Euston tunnel protest tunnel activists have reported soil collapse in one of the tunnels they have named Crystal. HS2 says that ensuring that the seven protesters remaining in the tunnel are removed safely is their priority. An HS2 spokesperson said: “Today we have taken possession of land to the west of Harvil Road to secure it for our future works. This was carried out with support of a warrant and involved the safe removal of a small number of illegal trespassers, who had put themselves and our team at risk. Protesters are always given the opportunity to remove themselves from sites that they illegally occupy.”