SWNS / GETTY Mike Hookem says the Home Office has no idea of the number of immigrants in the UK

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The department was asked in a parliamentary question whether those arrested had been deported, were still in custody or had been released to remain in the UK. It answered that the only way it could find out would be to examine the records in each individual case. Ukip MEP Mike Hookem said: “This suggests the Home Office has no idea of the number of immigrants in the UK, the extent of the problem or any strategy on how to deal with it.

"It’s clear we need stronger border controls.” Labour peer Lord Temple-Morris had demanded to know how many illegal immigrants had been arrested in each of the past five years. He also wanted to know how many arrests there had been for immigration offences and what had happened to those held.

SWNS Suspected illegal migrants were caught climbing out after the truck had stopped by police in Kent

It’s clear we need stronger border controls Mike Hookem

The Home Office insists it has the information requested but it would be too time-consuming and costly to collate. It did confirm there had been 119,730 arrests for immigration offences between 2011 and 2106. Lord Temple-Morris said: “I find the Home Office answer very unsatisfactory.

“It is the clear duty of a Government department to give information to the people on something about which there is such widespread concern.” A Home Office spokesman said: “The specific figures requested were not provided as doing so in the format requested would incur disproportionate cost to the taxpayer.”

GETTY The Ukip MEP also said the UK needs stronger border controls