A village for 1,000 migrant workers is being planned by one of the UK's biggest strawberry growers.

S&A Produce, of Marden, Herefordshire, said the accommodation is needed for the 1,600 migrant workers employed at harvest time.

Managing director Graham Neal said the company plans to install 300 mobile holiday homes on a redundant hop farm near Leominster, to house the workers.

Each home will have its own cooking and sanitary facilities and will house three or four workers.

There are also plans for a facilities block to include a swimming pool, sauna, jacuzzi, gymnasium, cinema, bar, shop, internet and Playstation facilities, library, doctor's surgery and training rooms.

Neal said: "Everything will be there. We are creating a home from home environment for just over £3 rent per day."

Neal added that the village was being built because there was strong competition for bona fide migrant workers and it was good business to attract the very best by offering decent accommodation, facilities and pay.

He explained that migrant workers had received a government-induced pay rise of more than 40 per cent over the past two years, and have received considerably more than the £3.80 national minimum wage.

"Since legislation we have had a tenfold increase in applications," he said.

The actual start-up date is in the hands of the planners but it is hoped that the mobile homes will be in place by May 17, in time for this year's strawberry harvest. They would be plumbed in and permanent.

The actual homes could be installed fairly quickly, but the amenities block would take longer to build. Neal said the new 'village' would co-exist with one already in use for 900 migrant workers, some 10 miles away. It would give decent accommodation for between 1600 and 2000 workers.

He said their seasonal workers are university students from abroad, mainly from eastern European countries. All are legal, requiring both an entry and a leaving date, and a work permit. "We try to run our scheme as a cultural experience as well as a working one," he said.