The number of migrant workers in Britain has topped two million for the first time, official figures have revealed.

A 75 per cent increase in workers from abroad since 2001 has seen the total number of foreign-born employees rise by more than 850,000 in the last six years, while their British born counterparts dropped by 500,000 in the same period.

The decline in the number of UK workers has been matched by an unprecedented influx of migrants from Eastern Europe.

Since May 2004, when the EU expanded eastwards, 700,000 have registered with the Home Office to work here. The figures are likely to fuel suspicions that some British workers are being forced out of the jobs market by migrants.

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Official figures from the Labour Force Survey show the number of foreign workers had risen by 861,000 in the past six years to a total of just over two million.

The figures were revealed in a parliamentary answer to Conservative MP James Clappison, a member of the home affairs select committee.

He said: "Ministers are really out of touch with what is happening in the jobs market.

"The Government has overseen a significant increase in the employment of foreign citizens but have had much less success in creating jobs for British citizens."

The real number of migrant workers is likely to be much higher, with an estimated one in eight employees now born outside this country.

The Labour Force Survey does not count those who live in hotels, hostels, boarding houses or caravan sites. Nor does it include temporary workers who have been living at their address for under six months.

Analysis last year showed that migrants have taken four out of five jobs created since Labour came to power.

The calculation of how many migrant workers there really are in Britain was made by the Statistics Commission, set up by Labour to check the integrity of official figures.

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