Rural asylum centre plans dropped

Local residents have objected to the planned centres

Proposals to place about 3,000 asylum seekers in a network of accommodation centres in rural areas have been dropped, the Home Office has said.

The falling numbers of asylum seekers prompted the rethink, a spokesman said.

Residents in areas where the trial centres were planned had voiced their opposition amid fears over the burden on local resources.

Only one centre housing 750 asylum seekers on MoD land in Bicester, Oxfordshire, has planning approval.

But according to The Times an appeal against the design of the building begins next month and there is now doubt over whether this centre will be built.

Plans had also been announced for centres on former military land in Throckmonton, Worcestershire, and near Bingham in Nottinghamshire.

The centres were to house asylum seekers for a temporary period while their claims were processed.

Change of emphasis

A Home Office spokesman said the falling number of asylum seekers in the UK had freed up space in a number of established removal centres housing those whose applications have been turned down.

This has lead to a change of "emphasis" on the use of those premises.

In a written statement to MPs, immigration minister Tony McNulty said there were no plans to build any further centres for at least five years.

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis told The Times: "This shows what happens when the government throws together thoughtless policies as a panic-stricken response to their failures."

Figures released by the Home Office last month showed the number of asylum seekers fell by 17% in the first quarter of this year. Some 7,015 people, excluding dependants such as spouses and children, arrived in the UK claiming asylum.