A month on, Piddington village is more divided than ever after its vote to 'leave the UK' over asylum centre plans

Oxfordshire village Piddington, population 358, voted symbolically to leave the UK last month after plans emerged to open a centre for 1,250 asylum seekers on neighbouring land. Parish council leader Tim McNally pushed the vote purely for attention — and got it, with 285 residents backing independence and only 26 voting to stay. One resident who voted to remain, Rachel Marsh, has since received death threats online, while her husband and children have faced racist abuse.

The 'Principality of Piddington' has no supermarket, hospital, pub, police or water supply of its own — making any real breakaway impossible.

The stunt has inspired copycat attempts elsewhere, with other communities reportedly exploring similar symbolic votes over asylum seeker housing plans.