Blair warned: Ban Romanian workers and we will sue you

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The warning came from Romanian Opposition leader Mircea Geoana amid mounting concern over the numbers expected to head to Britain once his country and Bulgaria join the EU on January 1.

It has been estimated that as many as 400,000 are planning to move to Britain.

Home Secretary John Reid has said he is considering imposing restrictions to keep the number down. But Mr Geoana - known as the "Romanian Tony Blair' because he leads the Social Democratic Party, which has close ties with Labour - said he was writing to the Prime Minister to warn him against placing limits on the numbers allowed to work in the UK. Sources close to Mr Geoana said any restrictions would be challenged under anti-discrimination laws in the European courts.

A regular visitor to Downing Street, Mr Geoana is due to host a meeting of the international think-tank, the Policy Network, in Bucharest next month when Mr Blair, its founder, is expected to be guest of honour. Mr Geoana said he and Mr Blair "are colleagues in our ideology and politics".

He added: "We will ask him for equal rights to be granted to the Romanian citizens just like those granted to the citizens of the ten countries joining the Union in the last enlargement wave."

Meanwhile, the Open Europe think- tank has warned that under EU law, Romanians and Bulgarians will get an automatic three-month "right to reside" anywhere in the EU. It added: "The only measure the UK Government can actually take under EU law is to restrict the number who can legally work in the UK by denying them work permits."

But this could "lead to the worst of all worlds", it said, with those prepared to abide by the rules and pay tax being turned away, while those "with no intention of working would still be let in".

In any case, it added, under EU law self-employed people from Bulgaria and Romania could not be stopped from working in the UK.