MORE than 20,000 people born abroad are estimated to be living in south Worcestershire, according to new figures.

This is an increase of 2,000 people since 2011 in the Worcester, Wychavon and Malvern Hills districts – a rise of almost 10 per cent, which contrasts with the overall eight per cent rise across the country.

The figures, released yesterday, also show that just seven per cent of the population in south Worcestershire was born abroad, compared with just under 15 per cent in the rest of England.

Conservative MP for Worcester Robin Walker described the rise as "concerning", and said he supported David Cameron’s plans to prevent migrants from earning certain benefits for four years upon arrival in the UK.

He said: “Most migrants come here to work rather than claim benefits, but I think it’s important to put it into context.

“The figures are down to the creation of new jobs, but sometimes migrants have higher levels of skills than local people.

“I am disappointed we haven’t been able to do more to lessen migration.”

Louis Stephen, the Green Party candidate for Worcester, believed the increase is quite small and suggested some people had overreacted to the figures.

He said: “I think most people are accepting of the situation, but people do have concerns with the provision of services such as school places and social housing.

“Some people conflate this with immigration.

“The economy is sustained by people who come to our country.”

Most immigrants settling in South Worcestershire since 2011 are from the EU.

Numbers of EU migrants living in the area rose by 18 per cent, whereas the number of non-EU migrants rose by just under two per cent.

The figures, released by the Migration Observatory, an independent body based at Oxford University, are projections and are not official statistics.

The nationwide project made its estimates by using data from the Labour Force Survey, which provides official employment figures for the UK.

Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory, said: "These data show how different local experiences of migration have been across the UK.

“We have undertaken this analysis to provide a resource for anyone looking to understand local demographics of migration in the run-up to the general election."