High taxes and soaring crime force 700 Britons to flee the country every day

A record 250,000 emigrated in 2007, many because they wanted to escape high levels levels of crime and tax.

The exodus is a fifth more than the 207,000 who left in 2006, and a jump of 70 per cent on the 149,000 in 1997.

It is the equivalent to 684 every day, or one every two minutes, according to Government figures due to be released later this year and revealed in a Sunday newspaper.

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Meanwhile the numbers arriving in the UK is soaring, hitting more than half a million in 2006.

Most of the Britons who moved abroad went to Australia, New Zealand, France, Spain or the U.S.

Sir Andrew Green, chairman of Migrationwatch, said: "The issue at stake is quality of life.

"The population of England alone will go up by nearly 10million in the next 75 years and people are realising we cannot absorb immigrants on that scale.

"There's a good case for limited immigration but the uncontrolled immigration we see at the moment is affecting our quality of life, so it's hardly surprising more people are considering a move."

Paul Arthur, from the Emigration Group which helps Britons settle overseas, precrimedicted the numbers turning their back on the UK would continue to soar.

He said: "We have had record enquiries about emigration over this winter, with people not just wanting to escape the bleak weather, but seeking a whole change of lifestyle.

"Many are unhappy with the levels of high taxes and the general way of life."

Thebreakdown from the Office for National Statistics in 2006 revealed the number of foreigners coming to live in Britain went up by nearly 10 per cent that year.

Nearly a quarter of a million of those arriving said they came for jobs and more than 150,000 more arrived as students.

Fewer than one in five were from Eastern European countries. They were outnumbered by migrants from Commonwealth countries in the Indian sub-continent and Africa.

Including returning Britons, 591,000 people came to live in the UK in 2006.

The figure for net immigration - the number who arrived minus the number who left - showed the population growing by 191,000.

A Government study last year predicted the population of Britain could soar to more than 100million in just over 60 years.