Nearly 300,000 visas giving foreigners the right to come to Britain are wrongly approved each year, a committee of MPs heard yesterday.

Nearly 300,000 visas giving foreigners the right to come to Britain are wrongly approved each year, a committee of MPs heard yesterday.

Linda Costelloe-Baker, who monitors visa refusals, told the Commons Home Affairs Committee there were errors in around 15% of short-term visa approvals.

Ms Costelloe-Baker, the independent monitor for entry clearance refusals, also said officials were "under pressure" to issue visas because of productivity targets.

Nearly two million visas - around 80% of applications - are approved each year, giving foreign nationals the right to come to the UK for six months, she said.

Ms Costelloe-Baker, previously the Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman, told the committee that officials considering visa applications found it much easier to approve visas than reject them as issuing was a "much faster" process than refusal.

Tory MP David Davies asked if it was reasonable to assume that 15% of approval notices were "incorrectly approved".

"I think that's a reasonable supposition," Ms Costelloe-Baker said.

Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve said: "This makes a mockery of Labour's claims to have a grip on our immigration system. It is obvious that its operation is neither firm, nor fair. This error rate not only increases the scope for increased illegal immigration, but is obviously a security threat."

Mark Sedwill, the international director of the UK Border Agency, said: "Our decisions are fair and objective, and last year the Independent Monitor determined they were right and reasonable in 99% of cases. It is untrue to claim our staff give out visas when people do not meet the criteria set out in the immigration rules."