IT is a decision that thousands of Hampshire residents are waiting for and one they fear could affect their whole way of life.

But yesterday the man in charge of the project that could see 400 asylum seekers housed in Lee-on-the-Solent said the wait would soon be over.

At a two-hour meeting with Fareham Council chiefs, the delegation led by project leader John Payne confirmed the decision was imminent on plans for an asylum centre at HMS Daedalus.

But the Home Office team were left under no illusion of the strength of opposition to the plans. After first running the gauntlet through a barrage of angry protestors just to get into the Civic Offices for the meeting, it was then spelt out to them why plans for the accommodation centre should be scrapped.

Fareham Council leader Sean Woodward said: "I think the residents of Fareham and Gosport can rest assured that their fears have been conveyed directly to the people in charge of the project.

"They did say the decision over whether they would put in an application would be soon but were no more specific than that."

No sooner had the Home Office delegation parked up on the asphalt of Fareham's Civic Offices then they were pounced on by campaigners demanding answers over plans to build a 400-bed asylum seeker centre at HMS Daedalus.

The meeting had been called by Cllr Woodward in a bid to influence the government's decision on whether to press ahead with a planning application for the site.

As they arrived, Cllr Woodward addressed the crowds. He said: "I certainly think you made your concerns clear today and got the right targets."

After the meeting he said the Whitehall group were told what the concerns were.

"They listened, they wrote down what we were saying and didn't disagree with it. They did confirm that it will not be in Gosport's hands as the locally democratically elected body to determine the application, but the government's."

The pledge for an decision soon came as little comfort to Daedalus Action Group members, who say they have been waiting long enough.

Chairman John Beavis asked: "Soon? How long is that? Gosport leaders were told early to mid-May. Well we are there now and we are being told 'soon'. It's a total sham."