Banbury MP Tony Baldry has criticised the NatWest Bank for its treatment of protesters fighting plans for an asylum-seeker centre near Bicester.

The bank refused an application by Bicester Action Group to open an account for its campaign funds, accusing it of racial discrim- ination.

But later bank officials backed down. The group has now re-applied for an account.

In a letter to George Matthewson, chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland, owners of the NatWest Bank, Mr Baldry said a large number of people living in and around Bicester were offended by the bank's initial refusal.

He wrote: "The innuendo in the bank's letter explaining why they were not willing to open an account is that, simply because the action group is opposed to an accommodation centre for asylum-seekers on the outskirts of Bicester, they were in some way being racist. This has given rise to serious offence."

He said every organisation concerned with the welfare of asylum-seekers, including the Commission for Racial Equality, the Refugee Council and the Immigration Advisory Services, had publicly stated they were opposed to these centres in rural areas.

He said: "Local people are asking for a public inquiry, and the right to have what ministers have described as an experiment subjected to scrutiny at a public inquiry."

The action group has begun fund-raising to pay for solicitors and counsel to represent them at a public inquiry and, if necessary, a judicial review in the High Court.

Mr Baldry said: "I would hope that the bank had the good grace to recognise that in this instance, for whatever reason, it got it wrong."

He also criticised staff at the bank branch in Manorsfield Road, Bicester.

He said: "I can only assume that the NatWest Bank in Bicester does not have a branch manager or staff that are adequately plugged-in to reading the local newspapers."

"If they had bothered to read the Bicester Advertiser any week, for the last few weeks, they would have found, almost without exception, articles in that newspaper describing the work the action group are doing in Bicester to pursue what many people locally feel is a perfectly legitimate concern of public interest."

Yvonne Weavers, Bicester Action Group treasurer, said they were pleased but surprised that the bank had changed its mind over the account.

She said: "They were grovelling to us. I think the publicity has shown them up and shamed them into it."