An induction centre" is to be opened at Gatwick airport to house newly-arrived asylum seekers.

The centre, which is likely to open next year, is part of a "fundamental and radical" reform of the asylum system announced by Home Secretary David Blunkett last night.

It will look after new applicants for between two and ten days, allowing them to be screened and undergo health checks.

Ministers said it would remove the need for the widespread use of emergency bed-and-breakfast accommodation when asylum seekers first arrive in this country.

Mr Blunkett said the centre would form part of a new national network of induction, accommodation and removal centres.

This will replace the current dispersal policy where asylum seekers are sent to live in social housing across the UK.

Applicants will be moved from the induction centre to an accommodation centre.

Initially, there will be four across the country but the plan is to open many more if the trial is successful.

The location of the first four is yet to be decided, with officials planning to tour the country to look for suitable sites over the next few months.

They are likely to be close to the induction centres to make the system easier to operate.

The accommodation centres will offer full board, education and health facilities. They will have open access but asylum seekers will be required to sleep there while their applications are being determined.

Refusal to stay in the centres would result in a loss of benefits.

Once a decision has been made, successful applicants will be integrated into the community.

Those who are unsuccessful will be taken straight to removal centres, one of which already exists at Gatwick.

They will be held here until they can be returned home, officials said.

Mr Blunkett said he acknowledged the current system was too slow, vulnerable to fraud and unfair on local people and asylum seekers.