The scrapping of plans for an asylum centre in Worcestershire has been described as a setback by Nottinghamshire activists opposed to a similar scheme in the county.

On Tuesday the Home Office announced it would not build a centre at Throckmorton - but it still plans to go ahead with the centre at RAF Newton, near Bingham.

Halina Geary, leader of the Newton Action Group, said she feared the proposed site would now be forced to take more asylum seekers if it went ahead.

She said the Government's rejection of Throckmorton did not signal a change in policy on rural asylum centres.

There will now be even more pressure on our campaign and our facilities, it is as a huge setback

Halina Geary

"It is a smokescreen. We never thought that Throckmorton would go ahead anyway.

"It is not a concession for the other two sites (Newton and Bicester) that are still in the pipeline.

"There will now be even more pressure on our campaign and our facilities. We do see it as a huge setback."

The proposed Throckmorton centre was due to house 750 asylum seekers, but Home Office Minister Beverley Hughes said it had suffered from planning permission problems.

She said plans for large centres at Newton and Bicester, Oxfordshire, would not be affected.

Ms Geary accused the Home Office of "steaming ahead" with its plans for rural asylum centres.

"Rural locations are not a place for these centres," she said.