THE high speed rail project HS2 should be wrapped up so money can be invested into public services, a North West MEP has said.

Paul Nuttall, a former leader of UKIP who is now an independent, called a hike in cost of the project, now estimated to be £50 billion, "outrageous".

He said: “It will not add to our future prosperity, nationally or regionally, but just think how the NHS, schools and infrastructure could benefit from that investment."

The project would connect London to Birmingham and then the north of England.