Work-related immigration to the UK from the eight central and Eastern European countries has fallen to its lowest level since 2004, Home Office figures have revealed.

Only 40,000 new migrants from the so-called A8 countries – predominantly Poles – registered for work in the UK in the second quarter of this year, compared with 54,000 for the equivalent period in 2007. The number of Bulgarians and Romanians applying to work in the UK also fell.