The plans have angered many local residents

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott gave planning permission for the development, at a former Ministry of Defence site, despite some fierce local opposition.

The plans were also criticised by human rights group Amnesty International, which said the country location would isolate asylum seekers who were already vulnerable people.

Members of the district council and a local Tory MP are now considering whether to apply for a judicial review against the decision, which overruled the advice of an independent planning inspector.

The site, between the villages of Arncott and Piddington near Bicester, will house up to 400 single men, 50 single women and 300 family members while their asylum applications are being processed.

It is not in the interests of the local community, the local service providers nor indeed the asylum seekers themselves Bicester Action Group Local fury at asylum plans

They will be free to leave the centre during the day, but will be expected to sleep there at night.

Home Office minister Beverley Hughes said: "The Bicester centre will be an important part of the government's work to deliver our radical asylum reforms.

"I realise members of the local community have concerns about the centre, although I do not accept that an accommodation centre will be a detriment to the local area."

Healthcare, education and other facilities will be available at the site, the government said.

Support facilities

Mr Prescott's decision to approve the development prompted anger among many of the area's residents.

The Bicester Action Group (BAG) said: "It is not in the interests of the local community, the local service providers nor indeed the asylum seekers themselves.

Locating very large centres in relatively remote rural areas is likely to lead to isolation and potential institutionalisation Amnesty International

"We believe, as do all of the welfare organisations, that these centres should be smaller and in urban areas where services and support facilities already exist."

A spokesman for local Conservative MP Tony Baldry said opponents of the centre would now apply for a judicial review.

Amnesty International's refugee affairs programme director Jan Shaw said: "Locating very large centres in relatively remote rural areas is likely to lead to isolation and potential institutionalisation."

She said that could cause psychological difficulties for already traumatised asylum seekers.

"We have long argued that the government should have been looking to establish small-scale sites properly integrated into urban communities," she said.