A Buckinghamshire MP has welcomed new Prime Minister Andy Burnham to his country residence in the county, before warning him about plans for an asylum centre near the border.

Greg Smith, Conservative MP for Mid Buckinghamshire, raised concerns about the proposed centre at MOD Bicester. Chequers, the Prime Minister’s official country residence, is within Mr Smith’s constituency.

Speaking in Parliament, Mr Smith said: “Given that Chequers is in my constituency, may I welcome the so-called king of the north to his new Buckinghamshire residence?

“Next time he is at Chequers, before he heads off to enjoy the wonderful pubs in Wendover, as I know he has, could I persuade him to take a drive to the Buckinghamshire villages on the Oxfordshire border?”

New Prime Minister Andy Burnham has been warned not allow an asylum centre to open near Buckinghamshire. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

placeholder image — New Prime Minister Andy Burnham has been warned not allow an asylum centre to open near Buckinghamshire. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

The MP named Ludgershall, Marsh Gibbon, Oakley, Long Crendon, Boarstall and Brill among the communities he wanted Mr Burnham to visit.

He asked the Prime Minister to see “just how inappropriate it is to put an asylum centre just over that border at MOD Bicester” and intervene with the Home Secretary so that a different site could be found.

Mr Smith also asked Mr Burnham to press the Home Secretary for a response to a letter containing questions from constituents which he said he had sent more than six weeks previously.

Responding, the Prime Minister promised to examine the concerns and acknowledged that large accommodation centres could affect neighbouring villages. Mr Burnham said: “I will look at the issue. I think Piddington is nearby, and I know there are concerns in that community as well.”

Mid Buckinghamshire MP Greg Smith is calling on the Prime Minister to visit the villages in his constituency. Image: Parliament TV

However, he said asylum accommodation could not be concentrated solely in the country’s most deprived areas. The Prime Minister added: “A balance has to be struck, but it has to be fair for everybody.

“I of course recognise that large-scale institutions can put pressure on nearby villages. Let me look at the issues that he raises; I can see that they are genuine, but this is an issue that has to be dealt with as a whole country, and that is what I will do.”

It comes as an application to turn part of the former Ministry of Defence site at Bicester into a centre housing up to 1,256 asylum seekers, has formally been submitted under the Government’s new Urgent Crown Development process.

The proposal was lodged by the Secretary of State for the Home Department on Wednesday. It would see around five hectares of the wider MOD Bicester site transformed into a self-contained accommodation centre for single adult men aged between 18 and 65 who are awaiting decisions on their asylum claims, as the Government moves away from its reliance on hotels.