Tony Blair is standing firm behind controversial plans for an asylum seeker centre near Bicester -- despite acknowledging they are deeply unpopular.

Speaking exclusively to the Oxford Mail, the Prime Minister said the centre was essential to the Government's strategy to reduce asylum applications.

He did admit that the centre would become less necessary as asylum seeker numbers continued to fall -- but was unable to say when it would become obsolete.

"The problem is, everybody wants us to deal with asylum but no-one wants us to put the centres anywhere. What can we do? They have to go somewhere," Mr Blair said. "The simple truth is, unless we've got the capacity to deal with people through these centres, more and more people will claim asylum because they think the system isn't robust enough.

"I want to get to the stage where ultimately you've got the numbers down sufficiently that you can process people very quickly.

"What impact that will have on Bicester I couldn't say at the moment, but you reduce the requirement for these centres as the numbers come down.

"I just can't say when it might be that you don't need such a centre."

The Prime Minister claimed success in the Government's asylum strategy since 1997.

But he insisted the Bicester asylum centre, which has faced fierce local opposition, was necessary to ensure failed asylum seekers did not fall off the radar.

Mr Blair said: "Everybody wants the asylum figures down and we are reducing them considerably.

"But the only way we can do this is to make sure that we handle this in such a way that if their claim is refused they don't just disappear off into the community."

Dionne Arrowsmith, co-founder of Bicester Action Group set up to fight the proposal to build the 750-person centre near Piddington, accused Mr Blair of being pig-headed.

She said recent abuse allegations involving Global Solutions Ltd, a security firm which operates the Oakington Immigration Reception Centre near Cambridge, should alter his plans.

She said: "In light of what's happened in the past few days with GSL, I think the scheme should be suspended until we have got all the answers and everyone is happy. I just think he is being pig-headed."