OXFORD West and Abingdon MP Dr Evan Harris has demanded an inquiry into the breakout.

Dr Harris, whose constituency includes Campsfield House, has said the troubled history of the centre demanded a full review of the weekend's escape.

He said: "This is the latest in a series of disturbances and the second major incident that has occurred since the mixing of foreign national ex-prisoners with immigration detainees, and since a change of management to another private company following a bid process.

"The Home Office report into the fire and disturbance at Campsfield House in March was only published last week and it will have been too early to implement all its recommendations.

"But it had strong things to say about the way the centre is managed - with low staff morale, high staff turnover, and criticisms of the way the centre was run.

"It is now clear the Government will need to set out clearly how it is going to implement the necessary changes demanded by its own review, and by successive reports from the HM Inspector of Prisons.

"It is disturbances rather than escapes that have been the main feature of Campsfield House's troubled past. Local people will be concerned that detainees have escaped from what is supposed to be a secure establishment.

"There must be an inquiry into how this happened and whether private companies, with one eye on the profit margin, are capable of running sensitive and difficult establishments like this."

Donna Covey, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: "Recognised international bodies like the UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency) have constantly called for countries like the UK to develop alternative detention during the asylum process."

Matt Holman, director of Asylum Welcome, the Cowley Road-based support group, said the Government's focus on detaining foreign national ex-prisoners in unsuitable conditions alongside asylum seekers had "created a volatile situation that has now begun to explode".

Asylum Welcome called on the Home Office to ensure that detention is only used as a last resort and for a limited period, and that the detention of individuals should be subject to automatic judicial review.

No one from Campsfield operators GEO was prepared to comment.