Brackley farmhouse lost to HS2 is 'still standing empty'

A 1.5 mile (2.5km) tunnel is being built just outside Chipping Warden

A woman forced to leave her farmhouse because of HS2 said her former home was "still standing empty" after seven years.

Rachel Halvorsen used to run a farm near Brackley, Northamptonshire, but had to move out in 2016.

She said she felt HS2 developers had "missed a trick, letting our property go to rack and ruin".

The government said money saved through scrapping Phase 2 of HS2 would be used for other transport projects.

Work is well under way on the first phase of the HS2 project - between London and Birmingham - with a number of construction sites in operation across South Northamptonshire.

Many people living on or close to the route have been forced to leave their homes, with compensation being offered by the HS2 company.

Others have chosen to leave the area, which they say has been spoilt by the work, and they have struggled to sell their homes.

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Ms Halvorsen added: "The house is still standing, in fact, but I gather the ceiling has fallen in and it hasn't ever been rented out.

"We don't understand that because we had like a stable cottage on the property which we always let out.

"We feel that they've missed a trick there, letting our property go to rack and ruin."

Rachel Halvorsen, pictured in 2014 at the farm she had to leave

Kevin Howland lived in Chipping Warden, near Daventry, until last year.

The village is close to the site of a huge tunnel, currently being built for the high speed rail link.

He told the BBC: "The estate agent we were working with said there will be people who won't come and look because your house is in Chipping Warden.

"We weren't really able to sell our house [until] we were offered a part exchange by a builder who bought the house off us, and it's still on the market now.

"They should never have started London to Birmingham in the first place," he added.

The South Northamptonshire MP, Dame Andrea Leadsom, described HS2 as "disastrous" for her constituency.

She told the BBC that the idea of a station at Silverstone, which she says was suggested by the circuit, should now be seriously considered.

"This beautiful part of the countryside has been dug up to pay for the [HS2] line and there should be something in it for us," she said.