HOME Office minister Beverley Hughes can expect a "welcoming" committee when she visits the Daedalus site tomorrow.

Protesters have pledged to turn out in numbers to show Mrs Hughes the strength of opposition to her plans to house 400 male asylum seekers at the former Ministry of Defence airbase.

Six thousand leaflets and posters are being distributed around Lee-on-the-Solent and Stubbington to encourage residents to stand up and be counted when the minister arrives.

Campaigners have had to mobilise themselves quickly after the shock announcement yesterday that the minister had changed her mind about visiting the site.

After snubbing repeated invitations to see for herself how the plans would affect the seaside town, Mrs Hughes announced she would be making a visit tomorrow lunchtime.

Chairman of the Daedalus Action Group John Beavis said the residents would be making their feelings known.

"We have told people to be at the main gates in Broom Way at 12pm tomorrow. Residents will definitely be out in force to show Mrs Hughes that we care.

"It will be a peaceful protest. We want to show her the strength of feeling here but in a peaceful way."

She is expected to spend about an hour looking around the site but has no plans to tour the surrounding area or meet the public, a move that has drawn criticism from local campaigners.

Gosport MP Peter Viggers has written to Mrs Hughes urging her go on a walkabout from the old main gates that back on to homes to the High Street.

"Only then will she be able to appreciate the site in its context, not by just looking at it from Broom Way.

"I wrote that residents feel strongly that this would help her make a fair appraisal of the locality and urged her to include it in her programme."

Mr Beavis added his disappointment: "If she looked around the village centre and the sea front she would see how the community simply couldn't cope with 400 male asylum seekers every six to eight weeks."

Mr Beavis also issued a stay away message to racist demonstrators.

He said: "We do not want to hear any racist chanting when the minister visits Daedalus. We are opposing this centre because it is just totally unsuitable for the area and something our community could not cope with. We are not racist and don't want that sort of element at the protest."

GOSPORT councillor Peter Edgar has defended conditions at the Haslar Removal Centre after detainees there began a hunger strike.

Up to 11 men are reported to be involved in the five-day hunger strike in protest at the conditions they are kept in as they await the outcome of asylum appeals.

The strike comes after a damning report by the Prison Inspectorate was published that criticised the centre.

But Councillor Edgar, who visited the centre recently, said he was impressed with what he saw.

"I appreciate that the building itself is Victorian and is in need of repair. But I cannot accept that the people there are not treated with respect and care.

"The staff I saw showed a caring attitude towards them and I saw no evidence of a harsh regime. One man for example was watching television while lying on a pool table."