The Press and Journal revealed last week that bosses on the massive project sent out hundreds of letters about archaeological works in Calvert, Buckinghamshire to Granite City addresses.

Fifteen city residents were so confused they called an HS2 helpine to inquire about the work, and the mistake had an impact south of the border too.

Before work can begin on the rail line, which will improve journey times between London and other parts of the UK, contractors have to check there is nothing of archaeological interest where the rail lines will go.

They are organising an archeological dig near the village of Calvert in Buckinghamshire and sent out the leaflets to let neighbours know about the noisy machinery which will be used.

HS2 has said no Calvert residents received the leaflets because they were mistakenly sent to Aberdeen.

A new batch has been now been sent out to Calvert with a revised work start date of May 21 – a week later than planned.

A HS2 spokesman said: “This unfortunate technical error happened when generating postcodes for the distribution of these notifications.

“We are reviewing the processes around this system to ensure this doesn’t happen again and we apologise for any confusion and inconvenience caused.”