The controversial HS2 rail line must stop in Carlisle to drive the economic growth of the Borderlands region, the leader of the city council has argued.

Councillor John Mallinson made the demand in a week that saw pressure mount on the Government to ensure plans for the high-speed railway line to continue North stay on track.

Business organisation, the CBI, and the Northern Powerhouse Partnership (NNP) have both issued similar demands – saying that the line is key to Cumbria’s future prosperity and in closing the current North-South economic divide.

The calls come in advance of the Government-commissioned Oakervee Review on the way forward for HS2, which is due to be published on Friday

According to sources speaking to ITV news the review is set to recommend that the western route to Manchester is downgraded and the eastern stretch between Birmingham and Leeds be scrapped entirely due to spiralling costs – which currently stand at around £103 billion.

As part of its own independent review into the project, the NPP has called for the creation of a special purpose vehicle based on the model of the Olympic Delivery Authority, called HS2 North.

The body would ensure HS2, the £39 billion Northern Powerhouse Rail project – which will connect major cities across the North and improve connections and capacity in Cumbria – along with other rail upgrades are “combined efficiently and with maximum value”.

Cllr Mallinson has backed the move, with Government funding already unlocked to make Carlisle’s railway station “HS2 ready”.

“HS2 must stop and serve the Borderlands and West Cumbria with services to Carlisle – the capital of the county and an economic driver of competitiveness in our economy,” he said.

“It will ensure that our connectivity to both Scotland, the nuclear industrial cluster in Cheshire and the Midlands is substantially improved.

“The case made by for HS2 North, built by us and overseen by us, will also very much be in the national infrastructure and national interests, while serving us here in Carlisle.”

“And, as Borderlands has demonstrated, and HS2 will follow in demonstrating – what is good for Cumbria is good for the Northern Powerhouse and vice versa.”

Any HS2 link to Cumbria would fall in the third phase of work, with HS2 trains using the existing West Coast Mainline north of Wigan.

However, under current proposals there are no plans for a stop in the county – with Cumbria Chamber of Commerce lobbying hard for high speed trains observe the current West Coast Mainline stop pattern of Carlisle, Penrith and Oxenholme The Lake District.

Pressure has also mounted from opponents of HS2 in advance of the Oakervee Review findings, which are to be considered by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Chancellor Sajid Javid, as well as Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.

Free market think tank the Adam Smith Institute has dismissed HS2 as a massive white elephant” and called on investment to be made on improving sections of the existing rail network, including the West Coast Mainline.

It has also argued that a number of key cities, including Carlisle and Lancaster, will lose direct trains to London if HS2 is delivered in its current form.