The Government is set to provide migrants with high-visibility vests in Piddington, an Oxfordshire village holding a symbolic independence referendum today following fierce opposition to plans to house asylum seekers at a nearby former military camp.
The safety measure emerged as residents cast their votes, with officials seeking to prevent new arrivals from being struck by vehicles on what locals have described as ‘death trap’ roads near the village.
Piddington, a village in Oxfordshire with a population of just 350, is mounting a campaign against Government proposals to accommodate 1,250 male migrants at the disused military site.
Villagers are voting in a symbolic referendum on whether the picturesque settlement should remain part of the UK, after Labour announced the planned arrival of migrants.
Cabinet minister Jonathan Reynolds defended the proposal this morning, arguing that communities across the country must be ready to accommodate asylum seekers.
The plans would leave women outnumbered by male asylum seekers by roughly 10 to one, prompting safety concerns in the wake of sex crimes involving boat migrants in recent years.
Residents have also questioned the practicalities of the scheme, noting that roads leading to and from the former Ministry of Defence site have no pavements. They warn migrants walking along them could create a serious road safety hazard.
According to planning documents, Government officials have sought to address those fears by saying that ‘high visibility vests will be provided to those leaving on foot’.
Migrants will be ‘strongly encouraged’ to use shuttle buses provided at the camp. However, as authorities cannot prevent people from leaving on foot, the vests will be issued ‘to further emphasise the potential danger’.
Ian Darby, 63, a Piddington resident, told the Daily Mail that the issue was among many reasons why the former military base was plainly unsuitable for housing such a large number of migrants.
‘If they go wandering, they don’t have pavements on that road,’ he said.
‘It’s very dangerous. The Government says they are going to issue high-vis jackets, but the widest pathway is just one metre, it’s a death trap.’
The surrounding roads have a 50mph speed limit, with the planning documents accepting the military site ‘lacks safe/pavemented routes’ and ‘to enter or exit to site on foot would require considerable care’.
The village’s 350 residents organised today’s symbolic vote on whether to leave the UK after ministers ignored their pleas not to move single male migrants into the nearby military camp at Bicester.
If the camp reaches capacity, asylum seekers will outnumber local residents by almost four to one. Asylum seekers will be free to leave the camp to roam freely around surrounding villages.
The result is expected to favour ‘independence’, with campaigners hoping the symbolic ballot will focus attention in Westminster on their concerns.
Piddington’s women are campaigning against plans to house 1,250 asylum seekers in their village of 350 residents
The people of Piddington are off to the polls today
Reform’s Suella Braverman backed the residents. Pictured is Braverman (left) speaking to a female resident of the village
Labour is moving asylum seekers into military barracks across the country as part of its drive to end the use of hotels and reduce the cost of housing migrants.
The result of the village’s referendum is expected at around 7am on Wednesday.
Members of Piddington’s parish council told how they have been approached by hundreds of other British villages for advice on how to replicate the campaign, sparking speculation that such referendums could spread across the country.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage subsequently vowed to support any areas that want to hold similar votes.
Labour politicians are yet to clarify how long the military camp will house the asylum seekers.
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Ahead of the vote, locals have told how they are terrified by the plans.
More than 20 women said they have signed up for self-defence classes after they were reportedly urged to ‘take precautions’ by police ahead of the migrants’ arrival.
And on Sunday the village’s women wrote an open letter to every female MP declaring: ‘Our safety, our security and our freedoms will be under threat.’
But, of the 226 Parliamentarians who were approached by the women of Piddington, only four responded: Tory MPs Joy Morrissey and Sarah Bool and Reform’s Sarah Pochin and Braverman.
One resident, 51-year-old Louise Brooker, said Piddington – which does not even have a pub or a shop – will ‘be on lockdown’ when the migrants eventually arrive.
‘I won’t feel safe walking along the road,’ she told The Sun. ‘And that’s in the daylight. In the winter here, when it’s dark at 4pm, the very few streetlights that we have don’t stay on all night.
‘So the village is completely pitch black so in effect we are going to be in lockdown because everyone is going to be scared to leave their homes.’
Melise Witkin, 59, said: ‘This is not about being rich or poor, this is about safety. People have worked really hard throughout their lives to live in this village.
‘It is not such a rich or poor village. I just don’t think that is a conversation to be had. This is about safety.
‘We are 356 people in the village with 46 children and 1,250 men turning up is a recipe for disaster. People walk their dogs, children play, I just think it is madness.
‘This is about safety, nothing more. Even for them [the asylum seekers], along that road there is no pavement, there are no street lights. We just have to be realistic.’
Another woman, a mother-of-three, said her family’s lives have been ‘changed forever’ by Labour’s decision.
Other residents meanwhile questioned why the Government has failed to provide any data on the criminality of migrants in the UK, leaving locals in the dark.
It came after Piddington’s parish council claimed it was given just ten days to respond to a 1,000-word planning document for the asylum camp.
The site in Bicester, just 0.4 miles from Piddington as the crow flies, is one of three proposed camps on former military bases. Others at Crowborough in East Sussex and Wethersfield in Essex have already opened, to the dismay of many locals.
Ms Braverman described the scale of the problem in Piddington as ‘stark’ while speaking to reporters on Tuesday.
A protest sign is seen (bottom right) outside Bicester military camp this week
Chris Philp (right) and shadow minister for women and equalities Joy Morrissey (left) speak with residents in the village on Tuesday
During a visit to the village, she said: ‘This will dramatically transform the character of the village. These are the wrong plans for this village, and you know only harm and damage will come from it.
‘I applaud the efforts of these women to make their voices heard. They’ve spoken very powerfully, and they are the reason I’m here. I stand with them.’
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp also spoke to residents with Tory spokesman for women and equalities Ms Morrissey, who said party leader Kemi Badenoch had asked her to attend in her place.
He said: ‘The mothers and grandmothers of Piddington are clearly terrified for the safety of their daughters and granddaughters, because we know young male illegal immigrants are disproportionately likely to commit sex offences and rape.
‘Being here underlines how important it is to kick out this Labour Government and leave the ECHR, which would enable us to deport illegal immigrants upon arrival, instead of imposing them on places like Piddington.’