'We are outnumbered!' Piddington resident fears for her safety over 'unfair' plans to house 1,256 asylum seekers

Thank you for subscribing!

More than 90 per cent voted in favour of the tiny Oxfordshire village leaving Britain in a symbolic referendum

A Piddington resident has admitted she is fearful for the safety of women and children in her village amid plans for 1,256 asylum seekers to be housed less than a mile away.

Speaking to GB News following the village's symbolic independence referendum, local Christina branded the plans "unfair" as women will be outnumbered "10 to one".

Announcing the result this morning, the vote's returning officer Susannah Parden revealed 285 of 350 residents backed leaving the UK, with 26 opting to stay.

The turnout for the ballot was 92 per cent, with one ballot paper being spoilt and not included in the vote.

Reacting to the result, Christina told GB News Reporter Will Godley that the community is fighting "as hard they can" to have their concerns heard by the Government.

She said: "We're a community of around 300 adults, and right now we're on the face of every single news channel. We're fighting as hard as we can because ultimately the Government has landed on these plans full of holes, full of inconsistencies, and full of mistakes.

"They've just let us suffer with these plans with no help. How are they going to help us? We don't know."

Christina echoed the advice of the rural policing service in the area, who told concerned women to "run and hide" if they encounter danger.

She told GB News: "We know there's not going to be extra funding. We spoke to rural policing and their advice was, if something happens while you're out walking your dog, the best thing you can do is run and hide.

"That's what the police has told us, run and hide. And there's nowhere to hide here. We're so open and we're so vulnerable here."

Stressing how small a community Piddington is, with a population of just 350 people, Christina highlighted that residents will be outnumbered "four to one" against the 1,256 asylum seekers being moved in, with women in particular being outnumbered by "10 to one".

She explained: "I grew up in north London, so I consider myself a little bit streetwise, but there are residents here who were literally born here, they've lived here their entire lives. They never know how it felt to walk down the street with an eye over your shoulder.

"They've never known how it feels to walk with keys between your fingers just in case something happens, and so for those residents, I'm particularly worried they're not going to know what to do.

"We are outnumbered four to one, the women 10 to one. That doesn't happen in any other community across the UK, and I know there's issues with hotels, but this feels like an experiment that the Government is putting on us and it feels massively unfair, and they're not talking to us."

Christina urged Prime Minister Andy Burnham to visit their Oxfordshire village and see the site for himself before going ahead with the plans.

She told GB News: "Unless you come to this village and see that piece of concrete in the middle of nowhere, you're very naive to think that's a good idea. To put it into perspective, it is concrete in the middle of nowhere.

"The next town is six miles away, these men will be walking along a really fast road, and there's no streetlights. We just need to take him [Andy Burnham] around the community."

Christina concluded: "I want him to see the houses here, I want him to see the site, and I want him to drive to Bicester as well and see the surroundings, and then consider it himself. There's no barracks here, it's a piece of concrete land. So I just love for him to just come here and see it for himself.

"On paper, I can understand why a barracks might be a good idea, but there is no community here for a genuine refugee to be absorbed into the community. They're going to be abandoned just as much as we're abandoned."

Responding to Piddington's latest protest, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told GB News that the Government must make sure that "all communities are doing their bit" to take people.

She said: "What I would say to the people of Piddington is I think it's absolutely right and fair that they express their views, and I think it's absolutely right that the Government listens to those views.

"But we've always been the sort of country that steps up when we're needed, and I do think that using military bases is a better option than taking over a whole street."