By Dominic Casciani BBC News Online community affairs reporter

Protesters against the Bicester centre in 2002

And despite the government now having High Court backing to go ahead, ministers know the proposed Bicester accommodation centre remains as controversial as ever.

One of the hardest nuts to crack in the asylum system has been how and where do you house so many people while their cases are being processed?

It's an enormous logistical exercise, fraught with political difficulty.

Civil servants have sought the least-worst option for both asylum seekers and communities - but time and again they have come up against vehement local opposition.

Accommodation changes

When asylum seekers arrive they are usually put into short-term emergency accommodation, typically a bed and breakfast or hostel.

BICESTER ACCOMMODATION CENTRE Up to 400 single men, 50 single women and 300 family members "Self contained" facilities including shops and catering Sports facilities and gardens Two further centres planned

But what happens next has changed twice since Labour came to power.

Asylum seekers were originally housed by local councils. When numbers put a visible burden on local services in south-east England, ministers set up a national agency.

It began a national dispersal programme, itself a policy marred in controversy as agencies around the country complained host communities they were not properly prepared.

In 2002, the government's next reforms proposed large-scale centres, housing up to 750 people at a time.

Although refugee agencies, human rights campaigners and legal groups had grave concerns about other areas of the legislation, the accommodation plans became the most potent issue within local communities.

Pressure group opposition The government has tried to sell the Bicester project as a self-contained village. But local groups demanded to know what exactly hundreds of unemployed men cut off in the middle of war-time RAF airfields were supposed to do with their time?

Some predicted racial tensions, others claimed crime would rise as people with nothing to do would gravitate towards the two nearby villages of Arncott and Piddington.

Almost every area earmarked for a centre has seen protests of one form or another.

The largest demonstrations came in Lee-on-Solent where thousands of local residents opposed a centre in an old naval base. That plan was eventually scrapped, along with another of the key sites, RAF Newton in Nottinghamshire.

Local campaign groups have found allies in a host of asylum-related support agencies.

LACK OF CONSULTATION? Myth and rumour take hold in an absence of public information Beth Crosland, Information Centre about Asylum Seekers and Refugees

The Refugee Council says its experience suggests anything over 100 beds will not work for the asylum seeker and certainly will not work for the community.

It fears large centres may worsen attempts at integration because those in the centre are cut off from settled members of their community or support organisations.

It proposed a smaller-scale pilot close to cities with long-established minority communities and asylum support organisations such as translators, counselling services and expert legal advice.

The Home Office has taken on board some of these criticisms and a third trial centre is expected to be based on the Refugee Council model.

But there are other concerns. Doctors who have treated torture victims say the centres fail to address the complex physical and mental health problems of some asylum seekers.

Educationalists also opposed the plan to educate children in the centres, rather than in local schools.

Addressing local feelings

Beth Crosland of Icar, an independent academic group which promotes public understanding of asylum issues, said its research into local feelings in Bicester showed residents' opinions need to be properly taken on board.

The deep-seated opposition to the centre began when residents first heard about it from the media, rather than from government itself, she said.

"Local people are concerned about arrivals," said Ms Crosland.

"They fear there will be a strain on services, that government will neglect their needs and that arrivals will change the local identity. The biggest fear was that people were not being consulted."

The team found people began to associate asylum seekers with criminality. Some people assumed only those who had done something wrong would be housed in the centre.

"Myth and rumour take hold in an absence of public information," said Ms Crosland.

"Now the centre is going to go ahead, it's important to involve local people from police, teachers and GPs through to community leaders in how the centre will be run.

"Our evidence from national research shows that if government answers questions, and you provide opportunities for residents to meet asylum seekers as neighbours, people can understand each other."

Icar runs an information service where the public can contact expert academics for answers to asylum questions. See internet links for details.