Greater co-ordination is needed between refugee services working at the government's new induction centres for asylum seekers, a new report has claimed.

Research published on Friday by the Economic and Social Research Council backed a move by the government for the controversial centres to deliver the legal advice and community information much needed by asylum seekers as well as English language teaching.

However, the study also called for greater information to be given to local communities about the occupants of the centres, through a "myth-dispersal" publicity campaign.

The centre also called for details of asylum legislation to be passed to government departments, voluntary and police organisations in the communities involved with refugees.

"One of the fundamental issues that this research has revealed is the fact that almost nowhere in the UK is there a coherent, comprehensive, local community relations strategy involving a greater number of relevant stakeholders in the statutory, voluntary and community sectors," it concluded.

"More specifically, in the three areas studied in more detail for this project such overall strategy does not exist, at least formally, although one can discern some basic elements that could potentially become central aspects of such strategies."

Co-author of the study, Dr Saulo Cwerner of Goldsmith College, said he was shocked by the lack of communication and coordination by the agencies.

"The lack of communication was I think one of the main things we discovered," he said. "At times it was very, very startling. There were even times when I found I was relaying information rather than collecting it."