Extent of migrant influx to Britain unknown says Minister

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said any influx from the European Union states would “cause problems” with services such as housing.

The highest numbers were likely to arrive in London boroughs that already have significant populations from the countries.

However, he insisted it was not “reasonable” to assume that 300,000 would move to the UK – the figure suggested by some Tories based on migration levels after Poland, the Czech Republic, Latvia and Lithuania acceded.

The comments came after the coalition confirmed it would not seek to extend temporary curbs on 29 million Romanian and Bulgarian nationals’ right to live and work in Britain, which are due to expire in December.

Mr Pickles told the BBC’s Sunday Politics programme there had not been any discussions with the Home Office about potential numbers. He suggested his own department had come up with figures, but refused to say what they were.

“The truth is I don’t think anybody entirely knows the number that are going to come from Bulgaria or from Romania,” he said.

“I’ve seen figures, I wasn’t confident with those figures. I’ve asked for a further explanation and... when I feel confident about the figures then I’ll talk about [them].