The firm uses about 2,000 migrant workers each harvest season

S&A Produce said the accommodation was required to house the number of legal employees it needed during the summer.

The �5m village, planned for a disused hop farm at Brierley near Leominster, would include a cinema, doctor's surgery and swimming pool.

The firm said the workers would be housed in 300 caravans.

'Home from home'

S&A Produce, which already has a similar development at Marden in Herefordshire, uses more than 2,000 migrants from across Europe during the harvest season.

They are employed legally under the government's seasonal agricultural workers' scheme.

The firm plans to provide internet facilities

The firm's managing director Graham Neal told BBC Radio 4's Farming Today: "What we are trying to do is create a bit more of a home from home for the workers that come in under the government's seasonal workers' scheme

"We're putting on amenities for them as well as the use of caravans - football pitches, table tennis, basketball, volleyball, internet, PlayStations, libraries, doctors, discos, bars, food.

"If we have a lot of workers working for us on the farm, we have to be able to accommodate them both in their free time and in their days off.

"This is going to be purpose-built from start to finish.

This particular new village that we'll be creating is a long way away from local communities Graham Neal Workers' villages not new

"Our five to 10 years of knowledge of having seasonal workers means that we're able to create something from scratch on a new site, which hopefully will take on all the good things we've learnt."

Mr Neal added that people living near to the proposed site were coming round to the idea.

"The local villagers quite rightly put their arms up and said this is not going to happen.

"But having spoken to them and listened to what their requirements are... we've actually been able to come up with something that they're more than happy with.

"Certainly on our existing farm where we have up to 900 students - and they're actually about within about 20 metres of the local village - we have a very positive and favourable relationship.

1m workers

"This particular new village that we'll be creating is a long way away from local communities."

The company admitted the behaviour of some of its workers had been a cause for concern in the past, but the firm believes better facilities will lead to improved relations.

People living in Brierley have until 11 March to tell Herefordshire Council how they feel about the plans.

The horticultural industry in Britain uses about one million migrant workers every year.