Nearly 7,000 people are employed in HS2's construction across the Midlands the rail developer has announced.

A workforce of over 27,000 is now supporting HS2's construction, spread across 350 sites between London, the Midlands and the North West.

Of that, 6,838 people are employed in the West Midlands, helping to build the new stations at Curzon Street in the centre of Birmingham and Interchange in Solihull, as well as miles of track, tunnels and viaducts in-between.

The developer also says it has found jobs for 539 local people who were previously out of work, as well as 344 apprentices.

Rebecca Young, skills and employment strategy manager at HS2 Ltd said: "Long before HS2 trains start arriving in the West Midlands, Britain's biggest infrastructure project is delivering for the region.

"Just under 7,000 people living in the West Midlands have found jobs with HS2, plus hundreds of formerly unemployed helped into work, and apprenticeships and T-Levels helping to train the country's next generation of engineers, builders and more.

"HS2 is the UK's flagship Levelling Up project and we remain committed to driving investment and opportunities into the West Midlands."