Villagers voted overwhelmingly to become an independent state in a symbolic referendum

Residents of an Oxfordshire village have voted to become independent from the UK in a symbolic referendum held in protest at plans to house more than 1,000 migrants at a former military base.

Villagers in Piddington, near Bicester, voted on Tuesday over Home Office proposals to house up to 1,256 male asylum seekers at nearby MoD Bicester.

The 350 residents were invited to cast their ballot in a small box outside the village hall, the community hub of Piddington.

The referendum was organised by the local parish council and out of 312 votes cast, 285 voted to leave, there were 26 no votes, and one ballot paper was spoiled.

Delivering the result, Susannah Parden, vice chair of the parish council, said: "We are Piddington the village that roars."

Following the result, council chair Tim McNally said: "This is an example of democracy in operation.

"We went into this village hall as the underdogs - we had a plucky idea. We have given a message to the world."

Piddington resident Christina Gower, 26, said she was disappointed villagers had to do something "so drastic and desperate" to get the prime minister's attention, adding he would be welcome to join them for a cup of tea to discuss the issue.

She said: "You see this kind of stuff on the telly, in front of 10 Downing Street, not in plucky Piddington, in the middle of Oxfordshire.

"It doesn't make sense, but then I just think it's such a symbol for the rest of the UK, and I think the residents here in Piddington are so proud that they can pull off something so wacky and out of place and really impactful."

Ian Darby said he was "extremely emotional" listening to the result being read.

The 63-year-old said: "I haven't seen a press frenzy like that over a little village, it's quite extraordinary."

He added it has made the village think "wow, our voice can be heard".

Responding to the village saying it had "roared", Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told BBC Breakfast: "I think they have – we have heard it, we are listening.

"I do really understand that when changes are made that affect your community it can be very distressing.

"We inherited an enormous asylum backlog, we are processing claims much more quickly, we are removing people who don't have the right to be here," she said.

"Small boat crossings fell this summer for the first time in many years because of the action we have taken.

"While we get a grip on the asylum chaos that we inherited we do need to make sure that we live up to our obligations and house people coming to this country seeking safety."

A "Principality of Piddington" sign has been placed on the village boundary

Joe Marshall, a Piddington parish councillor, said the village could elect leaders for its new "principality" and even create ID cards.

Asked how far it could take its independence campaign, Marshall said it depends on how much the government was willing to listen.

He added its main aim was to encourage other communities unhappy with local decisions "to push for similar things".

He cited the Principality of Sealand as inspiration - a former military platform in the sea off East Anglia declared an independent territory in 1967.

Tim Beader, Oxfordshire County Council leader, said the campaigners had done an incredible job at highlighting their concerns about the proposed asylum centre.

"It's partially about the proposal itself, and partially about how the government has gone about this without engaging with the local community or looking at the feasibility of this site," he said.

"It's the wrong site for the local communities, for the asylum seekers themselves, and for the taxpayer."

The Home Office announced the plans in June as part of wider proposals to move migrants out of hotels.

Known as "Site A", MoD Bicester is located between the villages of Piddington and Upper and Lower Arncott.

In 2005 it was the target of similar plans for an asylum seekers accommodation centre, external, which were abandoned by the then-Labour government.

This year's announcement sparked widespread criticism, including from the district council and human rights groups, with many residents expressing shock.

An asylum seeker is someone who wants to be in the UK because they say they cannot live safely in their own country due to persecution or violence.

The government must house an asylum seeker if they cannot financially support themselves while their claim is being considered. There were 89,089 people in asylum accommodation as of June 2026.

About 18% of those people, 16,021, were in hotels. These are used when there is not enough shared housing available, such as houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) or former military sites.

The government has pledged to stop the use of hotels by 2029.

More people are in hotels across the south of England than elsewhere in the UK, while HMOs are more common in the north of England and Scotland.

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Type in a postcode or the name of a local council below to see how many asylum seekers are housed in the area

A total of 85,891 people applied for asylum in the UK from July 2025 to June 2026. This was down by 21% on the same period in the previous year.

Most people who arrive in the UK by small boat claim asylum, but they were only 40% of all asylum seekers from July 2025 to June 2026.

The rest include people who arrived by other illegal means or who came to the UK legally and applied for asylum while holding, or just after holding, a valid visa.

It can take years for the government to decide whether someone should be granted asylum.

In June 2026, 40,168 people - across 32,401 asylum applications - were waiting for an initial decision. The number of people awaiting an initial decision was down by 56% on the previous year.

As of June 2026, a further 90,341 refused asylum applications were part of a second backlog, waiting the outcome of an appeal in the courts. This was up by 51% on the previous year.

Together, these initial decision and appeal cases form the government’s total asylum applications backlog, which it has pledged to clear.

Refugee status was granted in about 38% of asylum decisions made by the Home Office from July 2025 to June 2026.

About 39% of asylum appeal cases concluded between January 2026 to December 2026 resulted in a previous refusal decision being overturned.

Piddington falls within the constituency of Lib Dem MP for Bicester, Calum Miller. He previously said the plans had been "veiled in secrecy" and that the process did not guarantee public participation "beyond a narrow list of statutory bodies".

However, earlier this month the government published an Urgent Crown Development application.

Miller called it a "clear win for local democracy and for every resident who refused to be shut out of a decision with profound consequences for our communities".

A public consultation on the plans is now running until midnight on 17 September.

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