The company's High Court hearing on Thursday seeks a route-wide injunction making it a criminal offence for anyone to enter what it calls “HS2 land” or delay its operations.

It also aims to criminalise “slow walking in front of vehicles in the vicinity of the HS2 Land”.

The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) - which has long opposed the high-speed rail project because of the associated environmental damage - is warning that the bid threatens people's right to peacefully protest the construction.

Matthew Stanton, Head of Planning and Advocacy for BBOWT, said:
“This injunction would stamp on people’s right to protest peacefully against this environmental disaster. This is an affront to democracy, undermining people’s legal rights to make their voices heard.

“HS2 Ltd has continued to fail in its duties to protect nature and while we do not support illegal protest, people must be allowed to protest against this peacefully, without fear of breaking the law.”

The Wildlife Trust has long opposed HS2, not least because of the impact on its nature reserves: the rail company took possession of parts of the charity's Calvert Jubilee reserve between Bicester and Buckingham in 2020 to facilitate the construction; its nearby Finemere Wood reserve is directly affected by the works, and staff and visitors also now have to cross land under HS2 possession to get into the Trust's Bacombe Hill reserve near Wendover.

Security staff have already been accused of being heavy-handed and some BBOWT members have complained to the Trust that they have been intimidated by these staff and have avoided the nature reserves in question as a consequence.

Mr Stanton warned that "Emboldening security staff with such an injunction risks making the situation worse".

He also warned that HS2’s fencing in some areas is so poor that visitors to some of the Trust's nature reserves were able to freely wander onto “HS2 Land” without even realising it. Should they accidently walk onto HS2 land after an injunction is granted they could technically find themselves facing criminal proceedings.

The injunction would also forbid people from obstructing or interfering with the movement of vehicles, equipment or people accessing “HS2 Land”. A person doesn’t even need to be on “HS2 Land” to risk being imprisoned.

By way of example, should a person choose to stand on a road whilst a HS2 lorry is trying to turn into “HS2 Land”, they risk prison. The proposed court order even states that “slow walking in front of vehicles in the vicinity of the HS2 Land” would be illegal. HS2 says it does not intend to “prohibit lawful protest” but BBOWT says it is hard to see what form of peaceful protest remains if standing still or even walking slowly is made illegal.

Mr Stanton concluded:
"As a Wildlife Trust we do not support illegal protests, but people are protesting because HS2 Ltd has continued to fail in its duties to protect nature, and people must be able to protest peacefully. The proposed injunction goes too far and would not just stop illegal activities, but make peaceful protest illegal itself.

"It seems somewhat ironic that an organisation that has caused its own delays at the cost of billions of pounds, want others who cause delays to be fined or imprisoned. The court should refuse to grant the injunction HS2 Ltd have applied for."