Further evidence of a surge in immigration to the UK from within the European Union (EU) has undermined the Government's bid to keep a lid on new arrivals to the country.

EU citizens were largely behind a leap in the numbers of migrants coming to Britain in the year to March, which included a "statistically significant increase" in Romanians and Bulgarians.

Prime Minister David Cameron and Home Secretary Theresa May previously announced a goal to cut net migration - the difference between migrants leaving and arriving in the UK - to below 100,000 by the general election on May 7 next year.

But the latest figures showed overall net migration rose to 243,000 in the year to March, up from 175,000 the previous year.

Labour hit out at the Government for failing to take "serious action to tackle the root causes of anxiety about immigration" .