The Oxfordshire village of Piddington has become a rallying point for a wider protest movement after residents voted symbolically for "independence" from the UK over Government plans to house male asylum seekers at a nearby former military base. Piddington Parish Council chairman Tim McNally says up to 500 councillors from parishes and towns across Britain have made enquiries about following the "Piddington blueprint" to stage their own local referendums, meaning the vote could become a template for similar protests nationwide despite having no legal force.

Piddington residents voted 285 to 26 in the referendum, held after the Home Office proposed converting a former military base into accommodation for 1,256 male asylum seekers, which locals said would outnumber the village's 350 residents by nearly four to one and raise concerns about crime. McNally's eight-stage guide sets out how communities can build a case, consult residents, engage their parish council and formally submit results to MPs and Government departments. Piddington is one of three sites for proposed camps on former military bases, alongside facilities already operating at Crowborough Training Camp in Sussex (350 migrants) and MDP Wethersfield in Essex (800 migrants), where residents in nearby Colchester have reported feeling unsafe when migrants are bussed into town.