A new petition, containing up to 10,000 signatures, is to be handed into the House of Commons next week opposing plans for an "open door" asylum-seekers' centre outside Bicester.

The petition has been gathered from households in Bicester and surrounding villages like Arncott, Ambrosden, Piddington, Blackthorn, Wendlebury and Weston-on-the-Green. Residents in Buckinghamshire villages including Ludgershall, Marsh Gibbon and Oakley have also added their names.

MP Tony Baldry will hand in the petition next Monday, May 13.

Mr Baldry said he expected Home Secretary David Blunkett to announce that one of his four preferred locations for an asylum centre is 25 acres of land at the Bicester Defence Storage and Distribution Centre, beside the Bicester-Thame road.

He said: "My hunch is that Mr Blunkett will make the announcement next week. I think the Government was so embarrassed when it admitted the announcement was being postponed until after the district council elections, last Thursday, hat even their spin doctors would not be so blatantly insensitive as to make the announcement this week.

"Mr Blunkett can make his announcement in several ways. He can easily come to the House of Commons and tell MPs, or he could give an answer to a Parliamentary question or leak the list to a national newspaper."

Mr Baldry said the petition criticised the probable location of the centre and called for a public inquiry.

He added: "The concept of centres for 750 asylum-seekers has been criticised by the Refugee Council, Oxfam and the British Medical Council as being untenable and unsustainable."

He said local public services had not been consulted.

One of the petition organisers, Dionne Arrowsmith, of Arncott, said they would know over the weekend how many people had signed the petition.