Companies in Britain have welcomed a recent surge in the number of economic migrants, particularly from the nations that joined the European Union in May 2004.

Recent figures published by the Home Office showed that around 427,000 migrants from eastern Europe have registered to work in Britain within the past two years, though analysts have suggested that the number if migrant workers could actually be closer to 600,000.

Many bosses have welcomed the new pool of skilled workers that the large-scale migration of workers from countries like Poland and the Czech Republic has created and claim that they have boosted the UK economy.

The Immigration Advisory Service's Colin Yeo told The Mirror: "Employers are crying out for immigrants from Eastern Europe because they just can't fill jobs. You don't find British people queuing up for jobs as bone breakers or fish filleters."

Tradespeople, such as builders and decorators, often work for themselves and so have not registered to work in Britain. Migrant workers often take jobs with low levels of pay in industries with high levels of staff turnover, including waitressing, farm labouring, manufacturing and cleaning.

As many as 300,000 people are expected to enter the UK seeking work from Romania and Bulgaria when they join the EU at the start of next year, though some analysts place this figure much lower.

Some organisations have complained that Britain cannot cope with the potential migration expected during 2007, which is thought to place a strain on the NHS, benefits, education and other systems, and have called for immigration controls to be tightened.

Employers' organisation the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has urged the government to exercise caution about the number of eastern European workers it issues permits too.

Ministers are understood to be considering whether or not to place tighter restrictions on the number of migrants from Bulgaria and Romania permitted to work in Britain.

The number of young people in the UK struggling to find a job has risen as a direct result of migration from eastern Europe, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). The majority of economic migrants from the EU are aged below 34 and the institute claims that 18-t-24-year-olds in Britain are finding it harder to find work because of competition from overseas workers.

CIPD chief economist, John Philpott, said: "This group accounts for half the latest rise in unemployment and, according to CIPD survey evidence, are those who face the stiffest competition from eager young migrants from Eastern Europe."

Wages in Britain are far higher than those in the eight former Eastern Bloc nations that became EU member states in 2004 and many migrant workers send cash back their families.

Around 750,000 Britons are thought to be living in Spain and migrant workers tend to work for a few years in the UK before leaving, relieving pressure on pensions.

Britain currently has record levels of employment and migrant workers contribute a substantial amount to taxes to the UK economy each year. Britain, Sweden and Ireland are the only EU member states that have agreed to allow citizens from across the union the same working rights as their own citizens.

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