A public inquiry has started into controversial plans to build an asylum accommodation centre in a rural community near Bicester in Oxfordshire.

The Government wants to house up to 750 asylum seekers on land owned by the Ministry of Defence.

The first day of the inquiry attracted up to 100 members of the Bicester Action Group(BAG), which opposes the plan.

The inquiry, at Garrison Theatre, on an MoD base, will hear representations from all sides over five days, spread over a two month period.

There were cheers from protestors when Paul Taylor, the planning inspector in charge of the hearing, announced he had received 2,500 letters against the scheme and only four in favour.

BAG co-founder Dionne Arrowsmith said: "This centre would double the size of our community overnight.

"The site is between Piddington - which is the classic small English village with a population of 150 to 200 - and Arncott with about 500 people."

The Bicester inquiry is the first into government proposals for large asylum seeker complexes.

The Home Office wants the centres to be self-contained with education, creche, shops, sports and legal facilities on site.

The key objections are that the centre is too big, too remote and the infrastructure to support it is not there.

But the centre is a key element in the government's reform of the asylum process and whatever conclusion the planning inspector reaches, the secretary of state has the final say.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "We are looking forward to taking part in the inquiry and having the opportunity to explain our proposals."