It was certainly a desperate, if eye-catching, way to publicise their fight against plans to house 1,250 asylum seekers in their village. 

And Tuesday is decision day for the 350 or so residents of Piddington, as the Oxfordshire villagers cast their vote in a ‘referendum’ on leaving the UK. 

The ballot is the latest stage in the community’s fight to stop a former Ministry of Defence site on the edge of the village being repurposed as a hub for undocumented male immigrants for up to ten years. 

It comes after 133 women in the village – who would be outnumbered nearly ten to one by the new arrivals – issued an open letter to every female MP last week to share their concerns. An accompanying online video was viewed more than 2 million times.

There is no legal mechanism allowing them to declare independence so the Piddington referendum at the village hall will not be binding.

Ian Senior and wife Paula retired to the village three years ago in the hope of living out their years in peace and quiet.

Piddington’s women are campaigning against plans to house 1,250 asylum seekers in their village of 350 residents 

Paula Senior, 61, said she suffers sleepless nights worrying about the camp, which sits just 650 yards from her garden 

The former MoD site is set to be repurposed as a hub for undocumented male immigrants for up to 10 years 

Mrs Senior, 61, is now suffering sleepless nights worrying about the camp which sits just 650 yards from their garden.

The former administrator enjoys crafting in her shed but says she’d be too scared to spend time there with 1,250 undocumented men a field-and-a-half away.

‘They say it’s a secure camp but it’s only secure for the people living there’, she said. ‘We’ll be voting on Tuesday. It’s a shame the referendum isn’t binding.

‘We have been treated appallingly. Nobody has spoken to us about this at all.’ Mr Senior, a former builder, added: ‘It’s a worry we could do without, especially the women.’

Deborah Swift, 64, took part in last week’s video ‘to help get across the message about our concerns over the number of men arriving in the village unvetted’.

She pointed out that the former MoD storage site was next to Piddington Reserve – a field where children play football and locals walk their dogs. 

Joe Marshall, a Piddington parish councillor and planning expert, said: ‘There’s no way the application would ordinarily be approved because there are so many discrepancies and contradictions in the documents.’

But he said because it was classed as an Urgent Crown Development application it can be signed off by the secretary of state.

The picturesque Oxfordshire village has 133 female residents – who will be outnumbered nearly 10 to one by the new arrivals 

The votes will be counted on Tuesday evening with the result announced at 7am on Wednesday – a day before the consultation into the project closes.

The Government has promised to end the use of hotels for asylum seekers and will use former military sites instead. 

Two are already up and running – Wethersfield in Essex, and Crowborough in East Sussex. Andy Burnham has said middle-class areas such as Piddington should ‘play their part’.

A Home Office spokesman said: ‘The Government is closing every asylum hotel and moving asylum seekers into alternative accommodation, including former military sites.

‘We are working to fairly house asylum seekers across the country, engaging with local authorities to reduce the impact on communities, and we have saved taxpayers over £1 billion on asylum support costs since the election.’

• READ MORE: SARAH VINE: The women of Piddington don’t want their small village overrun by male asylum seekers. So why the silence from Labour’s MeToo sisterhood?