Activists have warned developers that they face a “long and hard battle” if they push ahead with plans for a new road.

The Combe Haven Defenders, who hit the headlines earlier this year when they locked themselves to trees in an attempt to prevent the building of the Bexhill to Hastings Link Road (BHLR), have told developers they will face similar action if they push forward with new plans.

The warning comes after economic development company Sea Change Sussex submitted a proposal for an 850- metre single carriageway connecting the yet-to-be-built link road and Wrestwood Road in Bexhill.

Dubbed the Gateway Road, it is planned to include a roundabout junction where it connects with the BHLR.

Blueprints also reveal proposals for a cycleway/footpath along with landscape planting and fencing.

Andrea Needham, from Combe Haven Defenders, warned that very few people had been told about the plans.

She said: “We have been out in town informing people about this road and they are angry.

“Nobody knows about it and people are starting to feel like they have been lied to.

“We say that this proposal proves the BHLR was never about congestion but about developing the area and building on yet more green land.

“There is still a desire and motivation to oppose this scheme. Residents don’t want to see their countryside disappear.

“The scheme is yet to receive planning permission but if they push on then they will face similar action to that earlier in the year.”

The group hit national headlines in January and February as construction workers set about work on the controversial £92 million link road.

Campaigners camped out in tress along the route and dug tunnels in an attempt to hold up construction.

After weeks of action, developers secured an injunction and activists were removed from the site with a number of arrests.

The deadline for comments on the route is May 31 with the council set to make a decision later in the summer.

To respond visit www.rother.gov.uk