Heritage watchdogs are calling for three historic Birmingham pubs which stand in the Eastside development area next to the proposed new High Speed Rail (HS2) station to be saved.

The Woodman, Eagle & Tun and the Fox & Grapes could all be bulldozed when the massive station for HS2 is built.

But members of Birmingham City Council’s Conservation and Heritage Panel have called for efforts to stop them being flattened.

Their fears come after the unsuccessful campaign to stop nearby Island House being demolished because developers were unable to rent it out due to uncertainty over the HS2 scheme.

The building, dating from 1912, has now been knocked down by owner Quintain Estates.

The panel heard how the HS2 station will impact on the Eastside Masterplan now the controversial rail line has been approved.

HS2 will operate from London Euston into Birmingham city centre and will run alongside the existing West Coast Mainline. It will terminate alongside Moor Street Station with the new station taking up a huge swathe of land in Digbeth.

The HS2 station will see 12,000 passengers and 18 trains per hour and will involve the construction of a high level viaduct.

Members of the heritage panel were told planners were aware the three pubs were at risk. However, the masterplan did include the possibility of preserving them all as “heritage assets”.

But Andy Foster, from the Society for Protection of Ancient Buildings, said he believed the Eastside plans were “politically driven” and they had to do all they could to protect the three pubs.

Barbara Shackley, from Warwickshire Gardens Trust, also called for more to be done to save them.