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Large billboards carrying the warning “Go home or face arrest” will be driven round London on the back on advertising vans this week in a new Home Office bid to reduce illegal immigration.

The billboards will also display the number of illegal migrants arrested recently in the relevant part of the capital.

Ministers say that the hardline message is intended to encourage visa overstayers or others here unlawfully to return voluntarily.

A phone number offering help – including potential free flights and other travel assistance – will also be shown on the adverts along with the promise that those who come forward voluntarily will not be detained while they arrange their departure.

The use of the advertising vans, which will be deployed initially to six London boroughs including Ealing, Barnet and Hounslow, forms the latest stage in a renewed Home Office drive against illegal migrants in recent months.

Some critics are likely to see the move as evidence of an excessively hostile attitude to migrants.

But immigration minister Mark Harper said that the new tactic would help to prevent unlawful working and reduce the burden on public services caused by illegal migration.

“We are making it more difficult for people to live and work in the UK illegally,” he said.

“But there is an alternative to being led away in handcuffs. Help and advice can be provided to those who cooperate and return home voluntarily.

The new advert will also be displayed on posters and on leaflets distributed to money transfer shops, internet cafes and other places where migrants congregate.

It will offer illegal migrants the chance to obtain free advice and travel assistance if they text “HOME” to the number 78070. The help available could include flights. Ministers say that the cost of any tickets provided will be outweighed by savings on the cost of deporting the migrants forcibly.

The other boroughs in which the advertising vans will operate are Barking and Dagenham, Brent and Redbridge. All six boroughs have been chosen because they currently have either high or low numbers of voluntary returns.