Violence will erupt if the government presses ahead with plans to build accommodation centres for asylum seekers in rural areas, it has been warned.

The former Conservative home secretary and chancellor Kenneth Clarke told the BBC that he believes asylum seekers who become bored will cause trouble inside the centres which could spill into nearby towns and villages.

I think you'd have violence in the camps, I think inevitably the young men will go drifting into the nearby market town

Ken Clarke

One of the centres could be built at a former RAF base in Newton in Nottinghamshire, which is part of Mr Clarke's constituency.

But a spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair insisted that only a "small proportion" of asylum seekers would be housed in such centres.

The government argues asylum is a national issue and every corner of the UK should play its part.

The plan is to build self-contained centres in rural areas across the country that will house asylum seekers for up to six months while they wait for their applications to be heard.

The government says they will have their own leisure, education and health facilities - which the local community can share - so there will be no need to venture into neighbouring areas.

But Mr Clarke said he was not convinced.

Ken Clarke believes trouble will flare through boredom

"I think you'd have violence in the camps - I think inevitably the young men will go drifting into the nearby market town," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"You'll have a few people getting drunk and some minor vandalism on a Saturday night and I think all that will be made much worse by large numbers of youths wandering about who don't have much to do."

Home Office minister Beverly Hughes insisted that people in the centres would be provided with activities to keep them occupied.

But shadow home secretary Oliver Letwin insisted that it was an error to have very large centres in rural locations such as the one proposed in Mr Clarke's constituency.

Expertise

He argued that it would be much better to have smaller camps housing asylum seekers from the same country of origin with British officials on site to process claims.

That way a level of expertise would built, said Mr Letwin.

Ms Hughes responded by saying that the issue of size was under "active consideration" by the government.

Ms Hughes warned against 'talking up trouble'

She added: "I think talking up trouble is not helpful because it is feeding people's fears in an unnecessary way.

"We want to encourage interaction between local people and people in the centres.

"We are not locking people up, people will be free to come and go.

"But they will also have purposeful activity in the centres ... they will not be rampaging through villages."

Home Office officials had visited similar centres in Europe which she said appeared to be working.

'People smugglers'

Officials from the department are visiting Newton on Tuesday to answer questions from residents after concerns were raised.

On Monday, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw renewed UK calls to cut European Union aid to poor nations which failed to stop illegal immigrants heading into the EU.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, who will meet Tony Blair in London on Tuesday, has said countries receiving EU aid must crack down on gangs of "people smugglers".

However, other EU nations, led by Sweden and France, oppose the idea of sanctions and suggest the EU offers incentives to poor countries that help control immigration, rather than punish those that do not.

Yarl's Wood

According to Home Office statistics, 72,430 people claimed asylum in the UK last year, with about 20,000 granted.

However, the Home Office estimates that 1,000 illegal immigrants are trying to access the UK through the Channel Tunnel each week.

A report into a major disturbance and fire at the Yarl's Wood detention centre for asylum seekers near Bedford was due to be released on Tuesday.

It was completed by Bedfordshire County Council following a wide-ranging inquiry and its recommendations will be passed to the Home Office, which is carrying out its own inquiry.

Ten people - nine from the centre - were charged with violent disorder after fire swept through it on 14 February causing tens of millions of pounds of damage.