Government accused of hiding riot police at Campsfield House

Campsfield House on Langford Lane in Kidlington closed in 2017 after local protest but an application submitted for a changing room extension in January this year sparked fresh outrage.

The council later said the plans had been put forward mistakenly by the Control And Restraint College next door who entered the Campsfield address "wrongly" on their application form.

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Protesters said they were "relieved" by withdrawal of the application to develop Campsfield House.

But further inspection has prompted some to suggest the application is not entirely unrelated.

Ian Middleton, a Kidlington councillor, said: "I'm concerned that this is a government operated group of what appear to be a detachment of specialised riot police that are going to be located at Campsfield House.

Ed Nix. (Image: Ed Nix.)

"I’d also question why it was not made clearer to the council, councillors and residents as to exactly what this group does.

"The application was couched in terms of acronyms with some of the application documents redacted."

Asylum Welcome communications officer Emma Jones had previously said she was "obviously very relieved" that the application had turned out not to be Campsfield.

But when asked whether she had been aware of the activities of the neighbouring group, she said she had been under the impression they were unrelated.

Kidlington councillor Dorothy Walker also hinted there might be something strange going on.

She said: "I've been quite curious and confused about it.

"Mislabelling the application seems a rather odd mistake to make.

Dorothy Walker. (Image: Cherwell District Council.)

"I find the whole thing quite mystifying."

The College of Control and Restraint is a National Tactical Response Group (NTRG), a specialist unit of the UK prison service which is equipped to respond to serious incidents in prisons, in particular.

Staff operate at two sites - Kidlington being one of them and South Yorkshire the other.

We asked the cabinet office for clarity around the application mix-up and the relation between Campsfield and the Control and Restraint College.

They did not provide an answer to the question but a spokesman said: “The government is committed to the removal of foreign criminals and those with no right to be in the UK.

Protesters. (Image: Keep Campsfield Closed)

“Immigration removal centres play a vital role in controlling our borders and we are working to build sites at Campsfield and Haslar as a priority.”

But Mr Middleton concluded: "Coming on top of the redevelopment and re-opening of the detention facility this looks like a significant intensification of this kind of activity in the area.

"This in turn begs the question as to why there would be the need for such opacity in the planning process and if this sets the scene for how the government will be approaching the changes to Campsfield itself."

We will continue to ask the government about the connection between Campsfield and the Control and Restraint College.