A village in England has voted to leave the United Kingdom as a protest against government plans to house up to 1,200 asylum seekers on a nearby military base, the Associated Press reported.

Residents of Piddington, which has a population of about 350, voted overwhelmingly for secession in the non-binding referendum. The results announced last Wednesday showed 285 votes in favour of breaking away, with 26 villagers voting against.

“We have given an absolute message not just to the region, not just to the country, but to the world,” said the parish chairman, Tim McNally. He said the district will henceforth be known as “the Principality of Piddington.”

The attention-grabbing vote was called to oppose plans to turn the former Ministry of Defence Bicester base — which is about one kilometre from the village — into housing for male migrants.

The British government said the site is “designed to be largely self sufficient to minimise any impact on the local community.”

Residents in the village have raised fears about safety, crime and the effect on house prices in the area, 80 kilometres northwest of London.

Supporters called the declaration of independence a victory for people power and local democracy. Some media in the kingdom compared the gesture to the classic 1949 Ealing comedy film “Passport to Pimlico,” in which a London neighbourhood broke away from Britain.

Others said the campaign had a darker side and stirred up fear of newcomers. Some backers of the Piddington referendum compared their fight against the asylum accommodation to the 1940 Battle of Britain against Nazi Germany.

Villager Herbert Owen, 76, said after voting that the independence referendum “isn’t just about Piddington,” adding: “It means everything our grandparents, our parents fought for. Today is the Battle of Britain.”

The U.K. has seen a wave of anti-immigrant demonstrations since riots erupted two years ago after a teenager killed three young girls during a dance class near Liverpool.

Protesters clashed with police last year outside hotels housing asylum seekers in London and several other cities.

In June, masked men in Northern Ireland set fire to several homes in Belfast they believed to house immigrants after a Sudanese man was arrested over a stabbing. (Nigerian Tribune)