Just what is going on at Campsfield House?

After three major disturbances at the immigration detention centre at Kidlington last year, there was more serious rioting at the weekend.

Fire crews tackled a series of blazes in one of the blocks after a stand-off between staff and detainees awaiting deportation.

A special prison service riot squad, known as the Tornado Team, police officers, some in riot gear and with dogs, and firefighters were called in to restore order, fight fires and prevent anyone escaping.

The cost of such an operation must be colossal.

We asked questions about the running of Campsfield after the serious problems last year - and we and the public are still waiting for answers.

Are the buildings at Campsfield, a former young offenders' institution, fit for purpose? Is the mix of people being held there right? Are detainees kept there too long? And, perhaps most important of all, is the site being properly managed by GEO, the company in charge of security?

It cannot be the easiest of tasks to look after a group of immigrants, who are frustrated and angry at being held at Campsfield.

But GEO presumably applied for, and was given the job, on the basis that its staff were properly equipped to do it.

It must be to the company's huge embarrassment that four times in the past 15 months, it has had to call on emergency help from outside to quell disturbances.

And you can bet your life, we, the taxpayers, are footing the bill every time.

It is time the Government got to grips with the problems at Campsfield and sorted them out - before the tinderbox really explodes.

We don't need reminding that another immigration centre is being planned near Bicester - can we expect double trouble when that is built?