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.

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. 

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.’

Australian fashion retailer Cue Clothing Co has entered voluntary administration after failing to find a buyer for the business.

Staff in Australia and New Zealand were informed of the decision on Tuesday afternoon, when they were also told that receivers had been appointed.

Receivership allows secured creditors to seek repayment of outstanding debts, typically through the sale of a company’s assets.

Unlike liquidation, the business can continue trading while under receivership. Cue Clothing Co could potentially resume operations after assets are sold and its debts have been settled.

At its height, the fashion chain operated more than 200 stores. It now has 51 locations remaining — 42 full-price stores and nine outlet shops — all of which are expected to keep trading as the sale process gets underway.

FTI Consulting partners Kate Warwick and Vaughan Strawbridge have been appointed as receivers and managers.

Duncan Clubb and Shaun McKinnon of BDO were appointed voluntary administrators.

Hilco Capital, a British investor known for restructuring troubled companies, acquired Cue Clothing from the Levis family in April last year. The sale followed an operating loss of $4.6 million.

Rod Levis founded Cue in 1968 in Sydney and it remained in the family, alongside its sister brand Veronika Maine, until the sale to Hilco for an undisclosed amount. 

FTI said in a statement that Cue Clothing’s improvements over the last financial year were ‘insufficient to mitigate the impact of overhead costs’.

‘The receivers are continuing to trade the business while they undertake an assessment of the business and restructuring options available,’ it said.

‘A sale process seeking offers for business as going concerns will also commence immediately seeking to secure the future of the brands, a pathway to profitability and ongoing employment for staff.’

A Hilco spokesman called it a ‘disappointing outcome, but the only available course of action given the circumstances’.

‘Our intention has always been to fund Cue to restore growth and profitability,’ the spokesman told AFR. 

‘This appointment will now provide an opportunity for a new owner to carry the Cue and Veronika Maine brands forward.’

Cue’s sales reached $103.2million in the last financial year, compared to $98million the year prior.

Its losses also dropped to $5.1million from $14.1million in the same period.

Cue had a major stake in Dion Lee, which fell into administration after after Cue withdrew its investment in 2024 but was bought by American clothing giant Revolve Group. 

The arrival of ultra-fast fashion giants like Shein and Temu in recent years has disrupted the Australian retail landscape.

Cue and Veronika Maine are more upmarket than regular fast fashion retailers – such as H&M and Zara that have also dominated the market in recent years – but below luxury designers.

They cater to professional women and largely focus on high quality workwear. 

‘Hilco Capital has made the decision to appoint Receivers and Managers to Cue and Veronika Maine after a difficult period,’ a spokesperson told Daily Mail.

‘It is a disappointing outcome, but the only available course of action given the circumstances.

‘Our intention has always been to fund Cue to restore growth and profitability. This appointment will now provide an opportunity for a new owner to carry the Cue and Veronika Maine brands forward.

‘We want to acknowledge the efforts of all the staff during a challenging period and thank them for their continuing support of these great Australian fashion brands.’

Hilco poached Melanie Remai from rival womenswear company Trenery – owned by Country Road Group – to oversee Cue Clothing Co as chief executive in August 2025.

She resigned last week after only 18 months in the role. Chief financial officer Josephine Barbaro also resigned in the same week.

The company’s loans have been refinanced through Hilco on terms that extend to July 2027. 

Hilco Capital had listed Cue Clothing for sale through FTI Consulting in August. 

It claimed Cue’s sales were expected to reach $128.7million in the 2026 financial year.

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A senior finance executive dismissed after challenging his £30,000 annual bonus has been awarded more than £118,000 in compensation.

Andrew Blyth lost his £120,000-a-year role as a director in what an employment tribunal found was a “redundancy sham”, following a bitter dispute over his bonus.

The accountant had told company owner Courtenay Morison that he considered his bonus for the year unfair and believed it should have been substantially higher.

A tribunal heard that Mr Blyth’s yearly bonuses were typically worth about £30,000.

Mr Morison, the chairman and director of successful removals company Clockwork, became “disgruntled and upset” by the complaints and subsequently removed Mr Blyth through what was found to be a false redundancy process.

On the morning before Mr Blyth was forced out of the business, Mr Morison had even searched online for “Legitimate Reasons for Director Redundancy”.

At an Edinburgh employment tribunal in Scotland, Mr Blyth was awarded £118,223 after succeeding in his unfair dismissal claim.

Mr Blyth, who is based in Edinburgh, had served as Group Finance Director at Clockwork Group Holdings until his dismissal in December 2025.

Clockwork describes itself as ‘one of the leading UK removals and storage companies’.

In November 2025, Mr Blyth had emailed Mr Morison about his views on the calculations of his bonus for that year, saying that it was ‘unfair’ and should be much higher.

Mr Blyth’s annual salary was £120,000, and his general annual bonus was around £30,000 a year.

After Mr Blyth said that they were not going to ‘completely agree’ because they had already discussed this issue, Mr Morison said that they had agreed the bonus 12 months ago.

Mr Morison said: ‘No that is not right or fair. We agreed the bonus 12 months ago. I’m not changing what was agreed back then. 

‘You’d be furious if I changed the goal posts if the other way round.

‘I’m becoming more disgruntled/upset with your attitude to what you perceive to be right and fair. I think you need to seriously look at your position.’

Mr Morison then completely cut contact with Mr Blyth until six days later, even though they would normally have contact most days.

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He invited Mr Blyth to a meeting, which lasted five minutes, and he said that he was making him redundant.

On the morning, just a few hours before the meeting, Mr Morison sent messages to HR saying he had researched ‘legitimate reasons for director redundancy’.

Giving evidence at the tribunal, Mr Morison said that he had been thinking about making Mr Blyth redundant for months because the company could no longer afford to keep his position.

However, Employment Judge Jacqueline McCluskey said that he could not have been thinking about the redundancy for months as he had only searched the redundancy the morning of his meeting with Mr Blyth.

She said: ‘His evidence was that he had been thinking about doing so for a period of months. 

‘His evidence was that this was because there were three qualified accountants in the accounts team, the accounts team was top heavy and by making [his] post redundant he could make a saving of over £148,000.’

She ruled that Mr Blyth had been unfairly dismissed because Mr Morison had acted in ‘bad faith’ by trying to ‘dress up the dismissal as redundancy’ when he was annoyed about him trying to renegotiate his bonus.

Judge McCluskey said: ‘The Tribunal concluded that the operative reason in the mind of Mr Morison when he dismissed [Mr Blyth] was his disgruntlement and upset at [his] attitude in the email exchange with Mr Morison that his bonus was unfair and should be revised upwards. 

‘Mr Morison’s emails were abrupt and forthright. Mr Morison said himself that he was disgruntled and upset. There had been no further contact from Mr Morison. That was unusual.

‘That is not to say that Mr Morison might not have had in his mind on the morning of December 10, 2025 how to dress up a dismissal for that reason as a redundancy.

‘That does not mean that the operative reason in the mind of Mr Morison when he dismissed [him] on 10 December 2025 was redundancy.

‘In reaching this conclusion the Tribunal was also mindful that there was no documentary evidence that redundancy or potential redundancy of [his] position had been in Mr Morison’s mind for months as he asserted.

‘The only documentary evidence provided showed that it was only a couple of hours before [his] dismissal meeting that Mr Morison had carried out an online search about “Legitimate Reasons for Director Redundancy”.

‘The absence of any documentary evidence prior to the dismissal date was a factor which the Tribunal weighed in the balance when concluding it was more likely that Mr Morison had not been thinking about making [his] role redundant for months.’

Mr Blyth found employment in 2026, but he earns a lesser salary than he did.

It was ruled that the company should pay £118,223 in compensation to cover his financial losses during unemployment and his future losses.

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Sterling K. Brown, Paradise

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Hannah Einbinder, Hacks

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