The end of EU free movement rights after Brexit may not mean a drop in net migration in the UK, peers have warned.

Neither will cutting EU migration provide a "quick fix" for low wages, according to a House of Lords Report.

Theresa May has promised Brexit will mean taking back control of the UK's borders but ministers have yet to give details of the new immigration system.

However, Home Secretary Amber Rudd has said "we will be ending free movement as we know it" and the Prime Minister has made clear the current arrangements with the EU will halt.

:: Net migration is down, but is it Brexit that's done it?


Net migration to the UK falls to its lowest level in three years

The report from the Lords EU Home Affairs Sub-Committee suggests that controlling EU migration may have little impact on net migration.

Until the referendum, net migration - the difference between people arriving and leaving the UK - was driven mainly by those from outside the EU.

The report said: "Restoration of national control over EU migration may or may not, therefore, deliver a reduction in overall net migration."

Net migration dipped below 300,000 for the first time in more than three years in the latest figures showing the year until the end of September.

For the first time, immigration and net migration from the EU were higher than from the rest of the world. However, the figures also showed a significant increase in the number of Eastern Europeans leaving the UK in the wake of Brexit.

Image: Czech labourers picking pumpkins from a field in Yorkshire

The Lords' report also warns extending the non-EU work permit system to EU migrants could make it harder for employers to sponsor EU workers, causing labour shortages in areas such as health and farming.

Brexit Secretary David Davis has already warned it could take years for Brits to be trained to fill the gaps in low-skilled jobs left by EU workers.

Baroness Prashar, chair of the committee, called for a "transitional phase" in dealing with EU migrants and said: "Crucial sectors of the economy depend on EU migrant labour, so it is essential that any changes don't endanger the vibrancy of the UK economy."

A Home Office spokesman said: "Once we have left the European Union it will be the Government that sets our immigration rules.

"We are currently considering the various options as to how EU migration might work once we have left and it would be wrong to set out further positions at this stage."