THE MAN who led a Hampshire community against government plans to open an asylum seeker centre on their doorstep last night labelled a television documentary about the campaign as "biased".

For eight months John Beavis successfully led the Daedalus Action Group against government proposals for a 400-person asylum centre at the disused military base in Lee-on-Solent, near Fareham.

Last night, hundreds of thousands of people settled down to watch award-winning journalist David Modell's Channel 4 Dispatches documentary about Lee-on-the-Solent's fight.

Entitled Keep Them Out, the programme packed eight months of filming into one hour.

Afterwards Mr Beavis, 57, was frustrated that it had ignored the group's "non-racist" battle.

He said: "It was a bit one sided, a bit biased. I think he (Modell) missed some opportunities to show the caring side of the Daedalus Action Group. We pursued a non-racist campaign.

"Ultimately, it was the wrong plan in the wrong place and in the end the Home Office agreed. It was a shame that was not accurately conveyed.

"The local community know the truth and that is what matters."

Describing Lee-on-the-Solent as a small town on the south coast of England, Modell opened by saying: "For the last year people here believe they have been in peril."

He followed campaigners as they protested at a visit to the site by the then immigration minister Beverley Hughes MP, took their petition to Downing Street and partied into the night to celebrate their victory.

Calling it "a very British protest", Modell contrasted the campaign against the plight of asylum seeker Kiembe who fled to Portsmouth to escape torture in his native Democratic republic of Congo.

Mr Beavis featured heavily in the programme, including one awkward moment where he could not answer Modell's question about why people were afraid of asylum seekers.

A spokesman for Channel 4's Dispatches, said: "The intention of the programme was to try to get to the heart of what people's objections were to the accommodation centre and explore people's perceptions of the asylum seekers."

However, Gosport councillor Graham Burgess, who represents Lee East ward, was not impressed saying "32,000 people cannot be racist".

He added: "Gosport, Fareham and Hampshire councils all believed it was the wrong place.

"There was a lot missed out in the sense of the councils' views and why they supported the community. We did not give £5,000 to the Daedalus Action Group as was said.

"There was a small minority that were given as much credence. It was not exactly balanced."

Pro-asylum centre campaigner Lee Gibson appeared frequently in the documentary but he was last night uncontactable.

Meanwhile Peter Hurworth, of asylum support group NeighbourLee, thought the programme was fair.

Mr Hurworth, of Chester Crescent, said: "I believe it was a nice piece of objective reporting. It showed Lee in its true colours, which is to say I feel ashamed to be a resident.

"A lot was made of the effect on house prices. I'm wondering what the effect will be when they watch this?

"NeighbourLee continues with its activities."

Teacher and DAG member Sue Ellis last week told the Daily Echo of her fears that her words would be used out of context, saying she had been coaxed by Modell into saying some things. She chose not to watch the documentary, deciding to record it for later viewing.