AN emergency plan has been drawn up by the Coalition to stop EU citizens coming to the UK in the event of a eurozone collapse, David Cameron revealed yesterday.

The Prime Minister told the House of Commons Liaison Committee he would do "whatever it takes" to protect Britain.

He said: "We obviously have contingency plans for all sorts of different eventualities; that is the right thing for a government to do when there is so much uncertainty.

"The legal position is that if there are extraordinary stresses and strains it is possible to take action to restrict migratory flows but, obviously, we hope that does not happen."

The PM also insisted it would be in Britain's interests for the eurozone to integrate further to help stabilise the single currency and calm the markets. Yet he feared the most likely outcome of current efforts to deal with the financial crisis was to "kick the can down the road".

He brushed aside calls for an early referendum on Britain's EU membership, saying: "It is difficult to know exactly the direction that the eurozone will go in and that's why we should show tactical and strategic patience about this."

Mr Cameron was adamant a banking union among the 17 eurozone members would not trigger a referendum as it would not mean any further transfer of British sovereignty to Brussels.