Points will be introduced for skilled workers with a minimum salary of £25,600

Low-skilled migration will end under sweeping reforms of the immigration system that the government says will stop businesses relying on cheap European labour.

Companies will have to use the 3.2 million EU citizens already in Britain to fill low-skilled jobs, along with a fourfold expansion of seasonal workers to pick fruit and vegetables. They will also be expected to make work in areas such as food processing, hospitality and gardening more attractive to British workers by investing in training and new technology.

“Firms are no longer going to be able to rely on cheap labour as has been the case for the last 20 or 30 years,” a Whitehall source said.

The plans were criticised by business leaders who warned that they would lead to