David Cameron will today place a four-year ban on EU migrants claiming benefits at the forefront of his renegotiation of Britain’s membership of the European Union.

The prime minister will back up his demand with the claim that nearly half of all new arrivals from the EU are claiming benefits.

He will say that 43 per cent of EU migrants rely on the support of the UK benefits system during their first four years in the country. This represents 224,000 EU nationals out of 526,000 new arrivals.

About 148,000 of these claimants, some 66 per cent, receive tax credits, housing benefit and other welfare handouts available to people in work.

Downing Street said that EU migrants entitled to so-called “in-work” benefits claimed an average of