Piddington fightback against migrant camps 'could spread across the whole country' - as Reform and Tories back villagers' 'referendum' on leaving UK

Britain must leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in order to stem the flow of illegal migration, the Conservatives and Reform claimed on Monday.Conservative Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp and Reform UK's equalities spokesman Suella Braverman ramped up calls for the treaty to be ditched during a visit to Piddington in Oxfordshire ahead of an unofficial protest 'referendum' on leaving the ECHR.The quaint village's 350 residents organised today's vote after Labour ignored their pleas against moving more than 1,200 male asylum seekers into the nearby Bicester military camp. Members of the parish council told how they have been approached by hundreds of other British villages for advice on how to replicate the campaign, sparking speculation that such referendums could spread across the country. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage subsequently vowed to support any areas that want to hold similar votes. Labour politicians are yet to clarify how long the military camp will house the asylum seekers though, and should plans go through Piddington's women could be outnumbered ten to one by immigrants. Ahead of the vote - for which results will be revealed on Wednesday morning - locals have told how they have been left terrified by the plans. More than 20 women said they have signed up for self-defence classes after they were reportedly urged to 'take precautions' by police ahead of the migrants' arrival. Piddington's women are campaigning against plans to house 1,250 asylum seekers in their village of 350 residents Reform's Suella Braverman backed the residents. Pictured is Braverman (left) speaking to a female resident of the villageAnd on Sunday the village's women penned an open letter to every female MP declaring: 'Our safety, our security and our freedoms will be under threat.' But of the 226 Parliamentarians who were approached, the Ladies of Piddington told the Daily Mail that only four responded - Tory MPs Joy Morrissey and Sarah Bool and Reform's Sarah Pochin and Braverman. One resident, 51-year-old Louise Brooker, said Piddington - which does not even have a pub or a shop - will 'be on lockdown' when the migrants eventually arrive. 'I won't feel safe walking along the road,' she told The Sun. 'And that's in the daylight. In the winter here, when it's dark at 4pm, the very few streetlights that we have don't stay on all night. 'So the village is completely pitch black so in effect we are going to be in lockdown because everyone is going to be scared to leave their homes.' Melise Witkin, 59, said: 'This is not about being rich or poor, this is about safety. People have worked really hard throughout their lives to live in this village.'It is not such a rich or poor village. I just don't think that is a conversation to be had. This is about safety.'We are 356 people in the village with 46 children and 1,250 men turning up is a recipe for disaster. People walk their dogs, children play, I just think it is madness.'This is about safety, nothing more. Even for them [the asylum seekers], along that road there is no pavement, there are no street lights. We just have to be realistic.'Another woman, a mother-of-three, said her family's lives have been 'changed forever' by Labour's decision.Other residents meanwhile questioned why the Government has failed to provide any data on the criminality of migrants in the UK, leaving locals in the dark. It came after Piddington's parish council claimed it was given just 10 days to respond to a 1,000-word planning document for the asylum camp. The site in Bicester, located just a couple of miles from Piddington, is one of three proposed camps on former military bases. Others at Crowborough in East Sussex and Wethersfield in Essex have already opened to the disdain of many locals. Asylum seekers are free to leave the camps to roam freely around surrounding villages.Ms Braverman described the scale of the problem in Piddington as 'stark' while speaking to reporters on Tuesday. A protest sign is seen (bottom right) outside Bicester military camp this week Chris Philp (right) and shadow minister for women and equalities Joy Morrissey (left) speak with residents in the village on TuesdayDuring a visit to the village, she said: 'This will dramatically transform the character of the village. These are the wrong plans for this village, and you know only harm and damage will come from it.'I applaud the efforts of these women to make their voices heard. They've spoken very powerfully, and they are the reason I'm here. I stand with them.' Mr Philp also spoke to residents with Tory spokesman for women and equalities Ms Morrissey, who said party leader Kemi Badenoch had asked her to attend in her place.He said: 'The mothers and grandmothers of Piddington are clearly terrified for the safety of their daughters and granddaughters, because we know young male illegal immigrants are disproportionately likely to commit sex offences and rape.'Being here underlines how important it is to kick out this Labour Government and leave the ECHR, which would enable us to deport illegal immigrants upon arrival, instead of imposing them on places like Piddington.'The result of today's vote is expected to be in favour of 'independence' and the hope is that the purely symbolic vote will concentrate minds in Westminster.The Labour Party is moving asylum seekers into military barracks across the country in a bid to end the use of hotels and cut the asylum bill.The result in Piddington is expected at around 7am on Wednesday.