Fury over 'Trojan horse' plans to house more than 1,000 male asylum seekers on ex-military base in bid to move them out of hotels

By JAKE HOLDEN, UK NEWS REPORTER and OLIVIA DAY, ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR, AUSTRALIA Published: 00:44, 6 July 2026 | Updated: 00:44, 6 July 2026 Fury has erupted across tiny villages in rural Oxfordshire over plans to dump more than 1,000 'single adult male' asylum seekers on a Ministry of Defence site - a proposal that has been likened to a 'Trojan horse' invasion by residents. Officials want to fill the 1,250-bed military camp with immigrants 'between the ages of 18 and 65' next to the villages of Piddington and Upper and Lower Arncott as part of a scheme to move them out of hotels. The proposition for the camp near Bicester, known as 'Site A', has seen objections from the local district council, human rights groups and local MP Calum Miller. The men would not be detained, but would have to use a sign-in-sign-out system when leaving. While the Home Office claim the site would be self-contained and largely self-sufficient to minimise the impact on local services, those living nearby are angry with the plans. Graham Rixon, a resident of Piddington, said: 'It's completely inappropriate. 'We're a village of 350 people - there's another village down the road of even fewer people, and they're going to dump 1,200 people here. 'Most of them probably won't speak the language, so there's going to be communication problems, and as far as I know, no help's been set up for language. Gwen McEwan described the prospect as 'frightening,' and said: 'Why should this village be penalised? Why should we suffer?' The Home Office plans to fill the MoD site near Bicester with more than 1,000 'single adult male' asylum seekers 'between the ages of 18 and 65' in the middle of rural Oxfordshire 'We haven't had any details of how it's going to work, so if it does go through, it'll be a mess - inadequate provision has been made. 'We're supposed to live in a democracy, and this is just trying to bypass democracy and get it all done before anyone notices.' More than 7,000 residents have signed a petition against moving the immigrants into the camp Mr Miller said. If approved, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) camp would be used for a minimum of 10 years to house 1,250 asylum seekers, with 270 expected to move in by the end of 2026. Another local said: 'This is a Trojan horse situation. 'Sadly, any decision made by the government to address this issue is undermined by other MPs. 'Until the UK government starts working together on issues, instead of all of them trying to move up the political ladder and making money for themselves and their families, our country is doomed.' Tim McNally, chair of the Piddington Parish Council, said that villagers had been stunned by the announcement last week and felt 'entrapped' by the prospect of more than 1,000 asylum seekers moving in just miles from their homes. He told the Daily Mail: 'I don't think there's anything worse than feeling entrapped.' He added that the 'value of our properties has been halved overnight' and that residents of the 155-home village have been thinking of selling up to get away. 'We have a very free and open village,' he said. 'I can't remember the last time I locked my car, or even my door, for that matter, we had a lot of heat last week, and we've had the windows wide open. 'What the government have done, and they declared, through the BBC, that the site will be for 1,000 men, and it will be on a sign-in, sign-out basis.  Gwen McEwan described the prospect as 'frightening,' and said: 'Why should this village be penalised? Why should we suffer? 'There are people waiting for houses in this country, people on the breadline, and these people get handouts. 'We've got two buses, at 10 o'clock and 12 o'clock on weekdays - our children have to pay to get the bus to school, £300 a term. 'I'm not happy about it. They shouldn't put them in a camp in a rural village. 'If they come here, I won't be paying any council tax.' Another resident, who has lived locally since 1969, added: 'It's just bad news. I feel sorry for these men who are going to be dumped here in the middle of nowhere. 'We've got hardly any doctors here, schools are non-existent or full-up - so where's all the support coming from? The picturesque village of Piddington, Oxfordshire, close to where the MOD base is located, has a tiny population of just 350, resident Graham Rixon said The military base pictured prior to D-Day in 1944 when the UK was the central staging ground and command center for the largest amphibious invasion in history 'It's a logistical nightmare. Why not put them in a more humane place?' One said: 'Only country in the world that is allowing thousands of men on boats to rock up and then get houses in army bases fully fed with massage chairs, gyms, top food portions and given money in the back pocket. 'How can we be letting it happen - I mean we as a whole nation, government included. 'They have massage chairs, pool tables, food buffets, but our own people can't afford to buy proper food or afford to live.' One said: 'The government has all this money for illegals but nothing for potholes. NHS. Education. Military etc. 'There are so many wasted government projects. They need to put money where it is needed before putting it into hair-brain, no-thought ideas.' Local Mike Newbury from Piddington told the BBC: 'I think the worrying thing is we have no official information. 'We have no facilities here - we don't have a shop, we don't have a bus service so we're not going to be able to offer them anything.' Preparatory work has already begun at the Bicester site, a recent MoD letter suggested, but Liberal Democrat MP Calum Miller said the place was isolated and unsuitable in a statement in the House of Commons on Wednesday Calum Miller, MP for Bicester and Woodstock, said: 'This letter yet again shows the Government making secret decisions in London and expecting local communities to simply adjust after the fact. 'It suggests No10 and the Home Office have been working on these plans for some time while service personnel, their families, residents and even MOD Bicester itself have been left in the dark. 'The fact that work is described as starting immediately, with hundreds of beds being prepared by the end of the year, only underlines how little say local people have been given. 'Yet no agreement has been given for an asylum centre to be set up. Upper and Lower Arncott residents are also worried, describing the prospect of the arriving asylum seekers as a 'Torjan horse situation' The announcement has also sparked criticism from Woodstock MP Calum Miller (pictured) who said over 7,000 residents had signed his petition against the decision. Previous plans to house up to 1,500 asylum seekers at RAF Linton-on-Ouse were abandoned in 2022 following protests by nearby households (pictured) 'The Government now needs to come clean on exactly what it is doing, what planning route it intends to use to seek permission and why the Bicester area is being asked to deal with the consequences of a decision made in London without any meaningful consultation or consent.' The decision to use MoD Bicester comes after the government announced plans to use two more military sites for asylum accommodation in a push to end the use of expensive hotels. Aside from Bicester, ministers said they had lodged planning applications to turn RAF Barnham in Suffolk and RAF Linton-on-Ouse in Yorkshire into accommodation. They also outlined plans to extend and expand the use of existing sites in Crowborough until 2030 and Wethersfield beyond 2027. Overall, the plans would create close to another 5,000 beds. Previous plans to house up to 1,500 asylum seekers at RAF Linton-on-Ouse were abandoned in 2022 following outcry and a legal challenge from the local council. Earlier this month, ministers announced the closure of another 20 hotels where migrants were being housed, including the controversial Bell Hotel in Epping. Former resident of the Bell Hotel, Ethiopian national Hadush Kebatu, sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl and a woman just eight days after arriving via a small boat. Labour said the hotel closures would save taxpayers £170million this financial year and claimed overall asylum costs had already been reduced by nearly £1billion. It has pledged to stop using asylum hotels by the next election. A spokesperson for the Home Office said the department 'engaged' local authorities ahead of the announcement and 'no final decisions' will happen without 'necessary arrangements, assessments and approvals'. The spokesperson added that the discussion to use the site is in early stages and remains subject to planning permission, feasibility assessments, and due diligence, which will include engagement with local stakeholders and communities. Border Security and Asylum Minister Alex Norris said: 'We promised to close every asylum hotel and hand them back to communities, and that is exactly what we are doing. 'Twenty more hotels have closed, and hotel numbers have more than halved since their peak. Instead, we're moving asylum seekers into ex-military sites that are a far cry from the hotels the last Government left us with. 'This is a system being brought back under control – and we will not stop until the job is done.' The Home Office added that now only 170 asylum hotels are being used, down from the peak of 400, which was costing the taxpayer £9million a day.  No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. 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