ANGRY immigrants at Campsfield House could riot again unless the "overloaded" detention system is transformed, according to a damning Government report.

The long-awaited report by the Chief Inspector of Prisons demanded 94 improvements to the immigration centre in Langford Lane, Kidlington.

Sir David Ramsbotham said asylum seekers were being detained far too long and treated like convicted criminals.

He called for a more streamlined system, with Home Office decisions to detain asylum seekers subject to scrutiny by judges.

His report was compiled following an unannounced visit to the controversial centre in October - two months after a riot by detainees which wrecked part of the building.

Sir David said: "Until clear rules and obligations are established for people held in detention and for the staff who look after them, the prospect of repeat disturbances will remain.

"There is little or no consistency, or logic, in current arrangements for deciding upon detention, nor in how detention is managed."

Sir David said it was "frankly unsound and unsafe" to detain asylum seekers at Campsfield without clear guidelines for security staff.

He said both the Home Office and Group 4 staff must remember that im- migrants - some of whom have been held at Campsfield for as long as two years - were not sentenced criminals.

Sir David said putting disruptive detainees into prison was "grossly inappropriate".

But he praised Group 4 itself for doing a good job under difficult circumstances.

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