A study by The Work Foundation states that "the UK has benefited hugely" from the migration from Eastern Europe and urges London to open its job market to Romanians and Bulgarians, BTA reported.

The report calls for the reconsideration of restrictions imposed on Bulgarian and Romanian workers, who are treated differently to those from the eight Central and Eastern European countries that joined the EU in 2004, the so-called "A8," EurActiv.com reports.

The report, published last week and entitled "Migration Myths: Employment, Wages and Labour Market Performance," shows for example that a majority of the A8 immigrants are under the age of 35 and therefore make little use of the National Health System.

"Migrants come to the UK to work, not to 'sponge' off the welfare state," notes the report.

The study reveals that the vast majority of A8 migrants intend to stay in the UK for less than three months. Less than 10 per cent hope to stay two years or longer, and some 20 per cent "do not know". "The natural conclusion here is that [UK] employers are using A8 migrants to plug labour market shortages or deal with bottlenecks," the report further states.

One of the findings of the research is that the supply of labour from Central and Eastern Europe to the UK is likely to diminish dramatically over the next five years. This again leads the authors to conclude that the British authorities should open the labour market to the citizens of Bulgaria and Romania.

Bulgarian and Romanian citizens have been free to travel to the UK without a visa since 1 January 2007, when their countries joined the EU. In spite of alarmist articles in British tabloids, there has been no subsequent "invasion" of jobseekers from these poorer EU countries.

The Work Foundation is a very old organisation, established in 1918 under the name The Industrial Society. Since it was renamed in 2002, it has continued the tradition of campaigning to improve the quality of life in the UK.