DAVID Cameron's plans to reduce immigration have come in for support - and criticism - in Oxfordshire.

The Witney MP and Tory leader said limits on immigration were needed to protect public services, the environment and communities from a looming population crisis.

Quoting the 2004 National Population Projections, which forecast a rise in the UK population from 60 to 71m in the next 25 years, Mr Cameron proposed annual limits on economic migration from outside the EU.

According to the population projections, which are published by the Office for National Statistics, Oxford West is in the top ten areas of Britain with the highest proportion of people born abroad.

A quarter of people (9,310 people) in Oxford West, were born abroad. And this, according to the figures, will rise to 10,092, by 2016.

Sir Andrew Green, of the Deddington-based think tank Migration-Watch UK, backed Mr Cameron's proposals.

The former ambassador said that unless immigration was reined-in, Oxfordshire would buckle under the pressure.

He said: "One of the major impacts of immigration is the demand for housing and this will be felt here in Oxfordshire, where we already have a housing shortage.

"Schools and hospitals are already struggling and our transport system is heavily congested, as anyone who commutes to Oxford will know."

But Patrick Tolani, director of Oxfordshire Racial Equality Council, said: "The pressure on our population is from older people and the fact is that non-EU immigrants have been contributing to this economy for years."

He added: "In the year that we are remembering the abolition of slavery, I find Mr Cameron's comments very insensitive. He should be suggesting an amnesty for the people who are here without papers. They are not criminals, but rather they have been working to help this country for many years."

Raghib Ali, spokesman for the Oxford Islam and Muslims Awareness Project (Imap), said: "I don't support unlimited immigration as I believe too much leads to social problems.

"But, on the other hand, we don't want to risk the collapse of services like the NHS, which are heavily supported by immigrant doctors, nurses and cleaners, by not allowing people to come and work here."