Asylum seekers held in a Kidlington detention centre are continuing to harm themselves, new figures reveal.

Statistics published by the Government show that between May 2006 and the end of April this year nine detainees required medical treatment for harming themselves at the Campsfield House Removal Centre.

This takes the number of self-harming incidents at the facility since April 2004 to 47.

Home Office Minister Liam Byrne, publishing the figures to MPs in a Parliamentary Written Answer, said the Government was "unable to determine" which of the incidents, if any, were attempted suicide.

Opponents of the centre, which holds about 200 asylum seekers while their claims are processed, claim some of the detainees have been held there for three years and many have been driven to despair.

The Close Campsfield campaign has said the likelihood of incidents going unreported means the actual levels of self-harm could be even higher.

It said the UK's network of detention centres is causing "devastating damage on an industrial scale".

In March, detainees were involved in a disturbance following a blaze inside a detainee's room.

Evan Harris, Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, whose constituency includes Campsfield, has described the number of incidents of self-harm as "alarming".

The MP has called for detention to be reserved for those who are removable and are at a real risk of absconding.