Turnhouse is among a series of options

RAF Turnhouse, on the outskirts of Edinburgh, has been named as one of eight possible locations around the UK being considered to house asylum seekers.

The council's executive member for housing, Sheila Gilmour, said it first learned about the plans in "the local paper".

She said the Home Office, which has powers over immigration matters, should have approached the council.

A council report has raised concerns about the housing, health and social work implications of such a centre.

'Serious issues'

It also suggested that police were concerned about the likely impact on resources.

Councillor Gilmour said: "We felt that it would have been helpful to have had much more advanced involvement and discussion and we hope that can now be remedied by at least being involved fully in the consultation process.

"We do think there are some serious issues to be addressed such as what happens to people once their applications are processed, how they will then be accommodated in the Edinburgh area."

The Home Office stressed that the Turnhouse proposal was at an early stage and it would be consulting widely.

A spokeswoman said: "We have identified eight provisional sites which could possibly become accommodation centres, but we are right at the beginning of the consultation process.

"We are not aware of the result of the council's meeting today but we will respond to any concerns raised."

The other sites being considered by the Home Office are two in Lincolnshire and one each in Worcestershire, Cardiff, Cheshire, Oxfordshire, Nottinghamshire.