Hundreds of people have travelled to London to protest against plans to build an asylum centre in Oxfordshire.

They are joining other campaigners from across the country to demonstrate against proposals to build huge asylum centres in rural areas.

The new centres are a key part of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill which is being debated in Parliament on Tuesday.

The government plans to build the centres at Throckmorton, near Pershore in Worcestershire, RAF Newton, in Nottinghamshire, and at Bicester, Oxfordshire.

Steamroll proposals

Bicester Action Group claims that the site, on Ministry of Defence land, is completely unsuitable for a centre housing a possible 750 refugees.

Tony Baldry, Conservative MP for Banbury, said: "I seriously hope the government use the time between being defeated in the House of Lords and coming back to the House of Commons to reflect.

"One would have thought they would want to listen to all the various groups who are concerned with the welfare of asylum seekers."

The asylum bill suffered a series of defeats in the House of Lords last week.

But ahead of the bill's return to the Commons on Tuesday night, the government has been insisting it will seek to overturn all the alterations imposed by peers.