1 in 4 Eastern Bloc migrants wants to stay here for good

Most of them had originally intended to go home but have changed their minds after living here.

They told researchers from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation they were after better pensions and a "good education" for their children.

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Based on estimates of migrant numbers, the report indicates that around 160,000 citizens of the former Eastern Bloc will settle for good - the equivalent of the population of Swindon.

The total is likely to climb higher still because 600 migrants arrive every day.

Labour had predicted that only 13,000 would come from Eastern Europe each year. Ministers also claimed the incomers would stay for only a few months or years.

James Clappison, a Tory MP on Westminster's home affairs committee, said: "While the Eastern Europeans are hardworking people who make a contribution, all of this immigration adds to the pressure on housing and public services.

"It shows a lack of planning on the part of the Government. It has failed to properly research and plan for the immigration that has taken place.

"They are simply making it up as they go along."

The Joseph Rowntree team questioned migrants six to eight months after Britain's borders were thrown open to Eastern Europe in 2004.

Only 6 per cent said they had originally intended to stay permanently. But many others changed their minds after arrival taking the number of would-be settlers to 25 per cent, or one in four.

Of those who were intending to leave, 90 per cent said they expected to return to the UK for further work.

The Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia joined the EU in May 2004, giving their citizens free access to Britain. Romania and Bulgaria joined in January.

The report makes clear that some migrants intend to make as much cash as possible and take it out of the country.

One Polish hospitality worker, aged 25, said: "I will never feel at home in this country. I hope to squeeze as much as possible out of this country and then dump it like an unloved mistress."

Researchers found that up to quarter of immigrants send their savings home as "remittances".

The study also found that many of the Eastern Europeans were living here illegally before May 2004.

They then acquired legal status overnight, with no attempt made to remove them for past immigration offences.

The researchers from Oxford and Sussex universities said that only a third of those interviewed knew how to register with a doctor.

Almost half were sharing a room with someone other than a partner.

Council leaders in migrant towns say up to 40 Poles live in three-bedroom houses, sleeping in bunk beds in shifts.

Figures released last week revealed that 640,000 Eastern Europeans, most of them Poles, have registered to work in Britain.

The true total is likely to be even higher as, in most cases, the Government keeps no record of the self-employed, spouses or children. Some estimates put the figure at 800,000.

Even based on the lower figure of 640,000, the Joseph Rowntree research would suggest that around 160,000 will settle in Britain for good.

The Government insists that migrants make a positive contribution to the economy while working.

But critics say this picture changes if the migrants retire here - with four out of five becoming a net drain on the country's finances.

The amount a worker needs to earn to make a positive contribution over the course of their life is £27,000 a year.

This is the equivalent of paying-7,600 a year in income tax and other taxation and would cover the costs of healthcare and other public services into retirement.

Only 20 per cent of migrants fall into this category, according to Migrationwatch UK which made the calculations.

Sir Andrew Green, the thinktank's chairman, said: "The social costs of the present massive levels of immigration, including their impact on infrastructure and public services, far outweigh any possible benefit."

A Home Office spokesman said: "The Government supports-legal migration to the UK, which has been of great benefit to the economy with skilled migrants filling gaps in our labour market.

"However, there are legitimate concerns about managing some of the effects of migration on communities. The Government is listening to these concerns.

"That is why it has taken a more gradual approach to opening the UK's labour market to people from Bulgaria and Romania by maintaining restrictions and introducing quotas on low skilled jobs."