CAMPAIGNERS against plans to build an asylum centre in Hampshire joined counterparts across the country for a noisy protest outside the Labour Party conference yesterday.

About 100 members of the Daedalus Action Group, who are fighting proposals for a 400-bed centre in Lee-on-the-Solent, were joined by similar organisations from Bicester and Newton as they stepped up their battle.

They made their feelings loud and clear to delegates arriving for the event in Bournemouth by shouting in unison: "No asylum centres".

About 170 protesters turned out for the three-hour demonstration to demand that the government listens to their concerns.

It was the first time the Daedalus Action Group had joined forces with their fellow campaigners from Bicester, in Oxfordshire, and Newton in Nottinghamshire.

As the members made their way home after the protest, they wished each other well in their respective battles.

The three organisations handed a letter outlining their concerns to Chris Lennie, deputy general secretary of the Labour Party, outside the Bournemouth International Centre.

John Beavis, chairman of the Lee-on-the-Solent group, said: "It was good to get together as it meant we could show a united front. It was a very good turn-out.

"It was good to be able to make our feelings known together.

"This policy being run by Labour is running out of control and it's undemocratic and unfair."

Bill Foster, 75, of Montserrat Road, said: "I just hope that they are taking some notice of us and that our message is getting through to them."

The Bicester Action Group was left stunned after the government ignored its 10,000-strong petition and the advice of an independent planning inspector last month to press on with plans to build a 760-bed centre in the area.

Halina Geary, chairman of the Newton Action Group, which is against proposals for a similarly-sized complex at a former RAF base, said: "We've been with Bicester before so it's good to get together with the Lee-on-the-Solent group.

"We are all fighting a common cause."