(BRUSSELS) - Opponents of the European Parliament's twin headquarters system redoubled their efforts Tuesday after a roof collapse at one base in Strasbourg forced the "travelling circus" to decamp to Brussels.

"The roof has already fallen in on the Strasbourg building; we have no need of going there at all, as this week proves. Brussels is ample for the needs of the parliament," said Nigel Farage, MEP and head of the UK Independence party (UKIP).

Part of the roof collapsed over the deserted chamber in the French city of Strasbourg on August 7 sending 10 tonnes of rubble down.

In a symbolic protest UKIP and 10 independent members of the parliament wore hard hats in the Brussels chamber to protest at the existence of "the wasteful Strasbourg Parliament building".

Graham Watson, leader of the liberals in the assembly, drew a parallel with the popular French Asterix comics, where the Gauls are scared of the sky falling on their heads

"I note that, thinking of Asterix, it takes the sky to fall on the heads of the Gauls for the French (EU) presidency to accept" a move to Brussels, he said.

Farage wryly pointed out that the rubble came from directly above the UKIP seats.

"I am not saying that there is a conspiracy to wipe out euro-critical voices in the parliament, but you do have to ask," he quipped.

Repairs have been started and the building in the eastern French city could be ready in time for the European deputies to resume their seats at their next session beginning September 22.

Strasbourg is the official seat of the European Parliament despite the fact that MEPs are present only 48 days a year. They do much of their work in Brussels, near the headquarters of the other EU institutions.

The parliament's president, Hans-Gert Poettering stressed it was "safety above all" that prompted the extraordinary plenary session in Brussels.

However others were swift to seize upon the fall as concrete proof that the Strasbourg building constituted one parliament too many.

Philip Bushill-Matthews, the British Conservative leader in the parliament, called on his Prime Minister Gordon Brown to "stop dithering and finally end the costly charade" after "the tent collapsed on the parliament's travelling circus".

"The two-seat parliament is a symbol of all that must change in the EU. If Europe's leaders are sincere about reform, they could find far worse places to start than by scrapping Strasbourg," he added.

Anti-Strasbourg campaigners have collected 1.2 million signatures in favour of a single-seat parliament. The idea was supported by 81 percent of euro deputies, according to a recent poll.

They cite some 20,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions caused per year by the assembly and the cost of transporting 785 MEPs and their 3,000 assistants, interpreters and other functionaries.

The Greens co-presidents, Monica Frassoni and Daniel Cohn-Bendit said that "today the parliament must speak publicly about its location".

The Greens suggest compensating Strasbourg through the setting up of a major European university there.

German Social Democrat Jo Leinen said he believed the EU must first get its institutional house in order by ratifying the bloc's reforming Lisbon Treaty, currently blocked by Irish voters.

While the roof may be quickly repaired it could prove more difficult to put the lid on the Strasbourg row.

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