FAREHAM Council leader Sean Woodward fears the government may still have plans to develop a former naval base into an asylum centre.

The Home Office yesterday denied claims that they have a renewed interest in acquiring the former HMS Daedalus airbase in Lee-on-the-Solent.

The claim followed reports that an interest had been revealed during a meeting between Mr Woodward and Keith Hill, the senior planning minister in John Prescott's Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

The 485-acre site became available after the Home Office decided in February to drop plans to house up to 400 asylum seekers there.

A government spokesman told the Daily Echo: "The Home Office has not expressed any renewed interest in HMS Daedalus."

Pressed to state whether or not the department has any plans to develop the site now or in the future, the spokesman repeated the same claim - that there is 'no renewed interest'.

"That speaks volumes to me," said Mr Woodward. "It suggests that they have never lost their original interest. That really sets alarm bells ringing.

"That suggests to me that they have never dropped their interest - that they have still got the same interest. It screams 'asylum centre'."

Speculation surrounding the site has been stirred up after Mr Woodward revealed that the council was considering the possibility of buying the site from the Ministry of Defence in order to build a new airport for the south coast.

The site has the potential to rival Southampton and Bournemouth airports because it has a runway which could accommodate the size of any aircraft currently served by either Gatwick or Heathrow.

Following his meeting with Mr Hill, Mr Woodward expressed concern that the government might be considering the site as a possible location for a new prison

"I was told by Keith Hill that the Home Office had expressed an interest in the site," said Mr Woodward. "It certainly concerns me.

"The Home Office doesn't do an awful lot other than asylum and prisons."

He hoped the government would not have the nerve to raise the asylum issue again, which prompted him to believe the site might be developed as a prison.

Lee Residents' Association chairman Alison Roast urged people not to speculate about the site until any plans are properly announced.

She said: "The MoD has until the end of August to offer the site to other government departments.

"After that, if there is any interest from any department, such as the Home Office, then it has to be declared."