Natalie with mother Chrissie Hynde
Natalie with mother Chrissie Hynde

The daughter of rock stars Chrissie Hynde and Ray Davies has been held by police after protesting against plans to lay a road through a beauty spot.

Natalie Hynde, 29, was held on suspicion of trespassing after she chained herself to an under-threat tree in Combe Haven Valley, East Sussex.

Hynde had climbed up into the tree as part of a protest against the Bexhill-Hastings link road, mounted by Combe Haven Defenders.

She spent three days living in a tree house perched on a branch with 11 other protesters.

Up to 70 bailiffs accompanied by police stormed the protest camp to remove the offspring of rock royalty during a clampdown on Tuesday. Clashes between protesters and the authorities have taken place since December, leading the dispute to be dubbed "The battle of Hastings."

Hynde was understood to be weary and looking forward to a rest, after she was bailed by police. Protests will continue, the group has vowed.

Speaking ahead of her arrest on Tuesday, Hynde condemned the development on environmental grounds. She also told The Guardian: "This is an anti-roads campaign and it's linked in with so many other issues - the cuts and the misdirection of enormous wealth into a £100m road.

"It's grotesque when you look at the beautiful place it's destroying."

Hynde and her fellow protesters drew anger from council leader Peter Jones for interfering with the road building work. He branded the Combe Haven Defenders "a threat to democracy" and told the group to "shove off."

Combe Haven Defenders spokesman Gabriel Carlyle told IBTimes UK: "Peter Jones is the campaign's strongest asset. Every time he opens his mouth he helps make our case with his intemperate language and misinterpretation of reality."

Natalie Hynde obviously inherited the protest bug from her 61-year-old mother, who founded US band The Pretenders and has been prominent in the pressure group People for Ethical Treatment of Animals. In 2003, she was arrested in Paris during a protest against fast food retailer KFC.