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Blair protester is rock star's son

Fox hunt
Fox hunting arouses strong passions in Britain with anti-hunting and pro-hunting protests  


TRIMDON COLLIERY, England -- A teenager arrested earlier this week as he approached British Prime Minister Tony Blair's constituency home is the son of rock star Bryan Ferry, it has emerged.

Otis Ferry, 19, was apparently staging a pro-hunting protest when he was stopped by armed police in Trimdon Colliery, Co Durham, north-eastern England, shortly before 4:00 a.m. (0300 GMT) on Wednesday.

Earlier this week a Durham Police spokesman said: "Shortly before 4.00 a.m. a hooded man was spotted walking towards the front gate of Myrobella House in Trimdon Colliery.

"He was challenged by two uniformed officers and when he refused to give personal details he was arrested."

The spokesman said the intruder's Peugeot car was found in the car park of a local public house.

Ferry was later released without charge but was rearrested by Humberside Police and taken for questioning about an unrelated matter.

He was then released on bail pending further inquiries.

Ferry junior, an amateur whip with the Middleton Hunt in Yorkshire and a passionate supporter of hunting, told the Daily Telegraph newspaper he was intending to place Countryside Alliance posters on the walls of the building.

He said he was challenged by two officers, one carrying a machine gun, after passing through the security gates and arrested when he refused to give his personal details.

He told the paper: "I had seen on the news that pro-hunting protesters had been targeting MPs' homes and thought you couldn't get better than Tony Blair's home.

"I felt I was not doing enough to try to save hunting. There are so few ways of making your feelings felt other than going on marches. I am passionate about it."

The Countryside Alliance has been mounting a summer-long campaign against a possible ban on fox hunting in Britain, which has for years been a divisive political issue. Anti-hunt protesters say hunting with dogs is cruel, while hunt supporters say the sport is a traditional country pursuit and provides thousands of rural jobs.

UK Rural Affairs minister Alun Michael is conducting a series of hearings into the issue next month.

Ferry's father had a string of hits in the 1970s as the lead singer of Roxy Music and later as a solo artist. He lives in London and Sussex.

Alongside a string of recent tour dates in Europe and elsewhere, Ferry senior had a top ten album "Frantic" in Britain, Norway, Sweden, Denmark Germany and Croatia earlier this year.

He is due to tour North America in November.



 
 
 
 







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