RAIL bosses have handled complaints about HS2 badly and are likely to ignore communities in the future, according to a report.

Ian Bynoe, a former Independent Police Complaints Commissioner published his report into complaints handling at HS2 Ltd on Thursday last week, and its findings indicated that communities affected by HS2 were little more than an afterthought for the company - something Langley residents have said they can relate to.

Although the HS2 railway line does not directly impact on Slough, residents have said the decision to relocate the Heathrow Express depot (HEx) - a project HS2 is fronting - will cause a great impingement on those living in Langley and Iver, but they have had no say in the matter.

Bill Birmingham, a member of Langley Neighbourhood Forum, said: "We in Langley were presented with no warning to a fait accompli.

"We were invited to “consultation meetings” to be told that Heathrow Express had to use the Langley site for their depot as their current Old Oak Common depot was needed for conversion into a station for HS2."

Mr Birmingham said alternative sites were suggested however it seemed the decision had been made some time before any announcement was made that Langley would go ahead.

He said: "The 'consultation' was in practice not a consultation at all. It was simply a meeting to inform Langley residents what would happen and where it would impact on Langley, especially the residents of Maplin Park and Mead Avenue."

The report was commissioned by HS2 Ltd to produce an independent report following an investigation last year by the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman that found the organisation guilty of maladministration.

It is the second follow-on report from the PHSO investigation, after the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee concluded last month that there was a ‘culture of misinformation’ within HS2 Ltd.

In his report, Mr Bynoe said there was an insufficient number of staff working on community engagement and recommendations from the Residents’ Commissioner are being acted on very slowly, and that six years after HS2 was first announced, HS2 Ltd still has no fully approved corporate strategy for community engagement.