The UK should double the number of refugees it takes in, a senior United Nations (UN) official has urged, claiming asylum seekers “revive” parts of the country.

Volker Turk, the assistant commissioner at the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, called for 10,000 asylum seekers a year to be brought to Britain, representing a “step change” in policy.

“We had good discussions about possible ideas about what can be done post-2020 and the government is open to discussing this and to learn the lessons from what is ongoing at the moment,” he said after meeting ministers in London Thursday.

According to The Times, he added: “We hope very much that there will be a regular resettlement programme by Britain past 2020 in significant numbers.”

The government is already committed to taking in 20,000 refugees by 2020 under a scheme set up to cover people fleeing the Syrian conflict.

Other European nations, such a Germany and Italy, have taken in far more asylum seekers than the UK, with more than half turning out to be economic migrants and a small number acting as terrorists.

However, the Austrian lawyer, who has won human rights awards, was not satisfied, demanding the UK government go against manifesto pledges to bring down immigration and effectively double its refugee admittance rate by 2020.

“It would be a step change, it would not just be related to Syria,” he said.

“It would look at where the urgent situations are, to have a certain flexibility in responding to them. I think we have to be very honest about the need for countries to contribute and to step up.”

He praised the attitude of some British communities responding to the migrant crisis but also attacked what he called “irresponsible” rhetoric from politicians.

“I’m so amazed when I hear about rural areas in Britain that actually they are so happy that people come to them and it almost revives parts of Britain,” he said.

He added: “You have the impression that some of the negativity is amplified but we forget about all the positive things that are happening.”