Record numbers of European migrants are working in Britain following the Brexit vote on June 23.

An all-time high of 2.3million EU-born citizens now have jobs in the UK – a net increase of 221,000 in a year, making one in 13 of the workforce.

Employment hit a record 31.8million in the year to September, fuelled by a surge in foreign labour.

Record numbers of European migrants are working in Britain following the Brexit vote on June 23 (stock image)

The Office for National Statistics figures – the first showing employment since Britain voted to quit the EU – came after the Prime Minister vowed to curb free-movement rules.

It puts extra pressure on No10 in the run-up to the Brexit negotiations, with tackling migration from the EU set to be the crunch issue.

The most dramatic rise was for Romanians and Bulgarians – an increase of 58,000 over the year, or 26 per cent, to a record 276,000.

The number of employees from Poland and seven other eastern European countries that joined the EU in 2004 soared by 90,000 to almost 1.1million.

Workers from 14 ‘old’ EU states such as Spain, Italy and Greece rose by 73,000, or 8 per cent, as they fled stagnant eurozone economies.

The number from outside the EU ballooned by 199,000 to a record 3.2million, despite Government promises to make it tougher to get visas.

An all-time high of 2.3million EU-born citizens now have jobs in the UK – a net increase of 221,000 in a year, making one in 13 of the workforce (stock image)

In total, the ONS says foreign-born workers hold one in six jobs – a record 5.5million.

Campaigners said the figures showed Britain had to regain control of its borders. The failure of former PM David Cameron to secure restrictions in his EU renegotiation deal was a key reason for the Leave vote.

PROJECT FEAR CONFOUNDED AS JOBLESS LEVEL HITS 10-YEAR LOW Unemployment has fallen to a ten-year low just months after the Treasury warned up to 500,000 jobs would be lost if the country voted to leave the EU. The first full figures since the referendum show the jobless total dropped by 37,000 to 1.6million between July and September. Over the same period, the employment rate reached 74.5 per cent – the highest since records began in 1971, the Office for National Statistics said. Just under 32million people are now in work, a rise of 461,000 in the past year. The healthy economic statistics are in sharp contrast to the infamous Treasury analysis, published in May and promoted by former Chancellor George Osborne, which warned of the dangers of Brexit. It stated: ‘A vote to leave would represent an immediate and profound shock to our economy. That shock would push our economy into a recession and lead to an increase in unemployment of around 500,000.’ The ONS said that the jobless total was now the lowest since 2006, giving an unemployment rate of 4.8 per cent. Advertisement

Lord Green of Deddington, from the campaign group MigrationWatch UK, said: ‘This is yet another increase in the labour force driven by increases in non-UK workers. This continuing influx perhaps explains why British people voted for Brexit and is a sharp reminder that the negotiations must get the numbers down.’

Tory MP James Berry, who sits on the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, said: ‘People in the EU will be aware that one of the key drivers of Brexit is the desire to control migration from the EU. Hence it is no surprise that many are taking advantage of unrestricted rules on free movement.’ Madeleine Sumption, of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, said: ‘The figures don’t yet provide a clear picture.

‘There is no evidence at this point of either an increase or decrease in EU migration or employment due to Brexit. It could be many months before there is enough data.’

Jonathan Portes, of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research think-tank, said: ‘The figures once again illustrate that with unemployment at very low levels, most of the growth in the labour force – and hence the economy – relies on foreign-born workers. Of course, the implication of this is that substantial reductions in immigration, resulting from Brexit or the Government’s efforts to cut immigration more generally, will hit growth and tax receipts.’

The figure of 2.3million EU workers in the UK is one million up on 2010 and 1.5million higher than 2004 when Tony Blair opened the UK’s doors.