942,000 are from former Eastern bloc countries, a 17% surge on last year

Almost one in every 15 of those employed in UK workforce are from Europe

Record number of European workers have jobs in the UK, fuelling drmands for David Cameron to strike an immigration deal with the EU

A record number of European workers have jobs in the UK – fuelling urgent demands for David Cameron to strike an immigration deal with the EU.

New figures have revealed nearly 2 million people born in the EU are employed here – almost one in every 15 of the 31 million-strong workforce.

Of those, 942,000 are from Poland and seven other former Eastern Bloc countries – a surge of 135,000, or 17 per cent, on the previous year.

Jobseekers: Romanian migrants look for casual work in Southwark, south-east London

And 186,000 Romanians and Bulgarians, whose residents have had full freedom of movement and access to work since January 2014, are also working here.

Despite assurances from Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs that there would be no major influx after employment restrictions were lifted, workers from the two Eastern European countries soared by 38,000 – or 26 per cent – in the year to March.

The data offers clear evidence of how a wave of EU immigration has taken advantage of Britain’s fast-recovering economy – which has produced an extra 2 million private sector jobs since 2010 – while the Eurozone remains mired in chaos.

But it will also increase fears that the huge influx from countries in the former Soviet Union is placing extra demands on Britain’s schools, healthcare and the welfare state, while also forcing down wages.

And it will place increase pressure on the Prime Minister to secure sweeping reforms of EU rules ahead of the in/out referendum on Britain’s EU membership. Mr Cameron has accepted that the EU will not tear up free movement laws but wants tougher rules on benefits – including a ban on migrants claiming any handouts for four years – as the price for trying to keep Britain in Europe

Chancellor George Osborne is opening negotiations with Brussels this week.

Latest figures show that in the first three months of this year, there were 1.9million EU nationals working in the UK, up from 1.6million a year ago

The number of EU nationals in work rose by 17.4 per cent year-on-year, and among Romanians and Bulgarians the figure was even higher, up 33.5 per cent to 173,000

The figures reveal a sharp rise in the number of workers from elsewhere in the European Union

Alp Mehmet, vice-chairman of MigrationWatch, which campaigns for controlled borders, said: ‘Ten years after the EU accession, we still find very large numbers of workers arriving from Eastern Europe, mainly to work in low-paid jobs.

‘This puts growing pressure on wages and housing. It simply cannot be allowed to continue.’

The Office for National Statistics revealed yesterday that 1.95 million people born in the 27 other EU member states were working in Britain in March.

The figure is almost 500,000 up on four years ago, equivalent to the population of Liverpool, and 1.3 million up on 2004 when Tony Blair threw open the UK’s doors by axing employment restrictions.

There was a rise of 190,000 EU workers in Britain in the past year, an increase of 11 per cent.

In a major boost for family incomes, regular pay between January and March were up 2.2 per cent on last year, the highest annual rise since spring 2011

The UK now has a record employment rate of 73.5 per cent, with the figure for men even higher at 78.4 per cent

The number of vacancies has hit 763,000 as the number claiming jobless benefits continues to fall

The figures have showed a steady climb as large numbers of Europeans escape economic problems in countries such as Spain, Italy and Greece. Dr Carlos Vargas-Silva, of the University of Oxford’s Migration Observatory, said: ‘It is the strong British economy that is driving this effect.

‘As long as the British economy remains strong relative to the rest of the EU, we are going to see continued migration from other countries in the EU. It will remain an attractive destination.’ Ukip MEP Jane Collins, the party’s employment spokesman, said: ‘This level of mainly unskilled migration from the EU is totally unsustainable in both the short and long term.’

She added: ‘Mass EU economic migration is placing extra strains on the UK’s pubic services and infrastructure, such as the NHS, education and housing.’

The ONS figures revealed that 264,000 people born overseas found jobs in Britain in the year to March, taking the total to 4.8million.

The figures do not include the unemployed or dependent relatives of immigrant workers. ONS figures also showed 74,000 newcomers from outside the EU found jobs in the UK over the same period, taking the total to 2.9 million. The number of non-UK nationals in work increased by 294,000, outpacing the 279,000 UK nationals who found jobs over the same period.