Home office plans for an open-door asylum-seekers' centre near Bicester could increase social services and education costs, Oxfordshire County Council's leader has warned.

The Government plans to build the centre for 750 people on 25 acres of Ministry of Defence land at Bicester Defence Storage and Distribution Centre on the Bicester to Thame road, between Arncott and Piddington.

But council leader Keith Mitchell said: "We are very concerned that there are implications for council tax payers.

"That is why we are pressing the Government for details on exactly how this will work.

"I think a public inquiry would be the best possible opportunity for all the issues to be properly discussed with full consultation between all parties." Cllr Mitchell added that social services managers -- already facing cuts of £9m from the 2002/3 budget -- believed there would inevitably be additional pressures on the department if the centre was built.

Deputy council leader Margaret Godden said it was still unclear whether education would be provided on site or contracted out to local schools.

Health managers at the North East Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust said they would be able to cope with the influx of refugees. PCT chief executive Geraint Griffiths said the trust was to have talks with the Department of Health about providing care.

He said: "We want the PCT to provide that care. There will be language and translation issues, but I'd rather it was integrated with the area's NHS services, as opposed to a stand-alone service."

Banbury MP Tony Baldry is demanding a public inquiry, and more than 10,000 signatures against the plan have been handed into the Home Office. Protesters say the rural site is unsuitable.

A planning application has been sent to Cherwell District Council. If the council objects to the plans and the Home Office appeals, a public inquiry could be held.

Cherwell's south area planning officer, Bob Duxbury, said the plan was expected to go before councillors at the south area planning committee meeting on July 11.