Claims that asylum seekers would move into the old Fairmile Hospital, near Wallingford, have been denied by the Government.

New security fencing around the site and security cameras going up around the perimeter are to keep vandals out, said the Department of Health, which took over the psychiatric hospital after the last patients were moved to new facilities in Reading.

Robert Stone, the official responsible for the site, said: "There's absolutely no truth in the rumours about asylum seekeers.

"The new precautions are to keep vandals out and to safeguard the property.

"There have been rumours about asylum seekers before, but they are totally without foundation."

The future of the site has yet to be decided, but could include housing.