Some asylum seekers went without food for five days

Up to 40 people took part in the demonstration at Oakington, the Home Office's fast-track detention processing centre in Cambridgeshire.

The protesters are from so-called "white list" states which are supposed to have their applications dealt with within 10 days.

But some of the protesters, from Jamaica, Albania and Romania, told BBC Look East their applications had taken as long as three months.

Unanswered questions

A Home Office spokeswoman said the would-be refugees refused to leave the centre's sports field after morning exercise on 30 July.

But the protest, which dwindled down to just five people at some stages over the weekend, ended on Monday.

A spokesman for the hunger strikers said they wanted to know why processing was taking so long.

"People are getting depressed and fed up. They are sick and tired. We just want to know what is going on," he said.

The plight of the asylum seekers has also gathered support from people across the country.

The Cambridgeshire Against Refugee Detention group was planning to stage its own protest outside the Oakington centre.

Wrong purposes

And Cambridgeshire South MP Andrew Lansley said the delays who there must be something wrong with the system at Oakington.

"Clearly if people are staying here for a much longer time it is another indication that Oakington is being used for the wrong purposes and the rest of the system not backing it up properly," he said.

The list of people being dealt with at the centre currently features 24 countries, including states in eastern Europe, the Indian sub-continent and South America, plus Jamaica and South Africa.

They have no right of appeal while they remain in Britain.

A total of 90 people are being detained at Oakington, which is run by the security company Group 4.