Cost of burgeoning Britain

MASS immigration threatens to push the UK’s population to unprecedented levels, increasing the risk of disease, crime and environmental damage, according to an alarming report.

On current trends, the population will rise from 59million today to 71.6million by 2050.

But the Optimum Population Trust believes that Britain, already one of the most crowded countries in the world, should be halving rather than expanding its population.

Packing in even more people will mean a greater risk of spreading diseases such as Aids or the Sars virus.

The trust’s patrons include Prince Charles’s environment guru Sir Jonathon Porritt, government environment adviser Sir Crispin Tickell and a raft of distinguished academics.

It says population growth is likely to be greatest in cities, which are also the areas most afflicted by crime. At the same time the spread of people from overcrowded urban areas to the countryside will increase rural lawlessness.

The impact will also be felt on the environment, the report claims, warning that England is already ‘vanishing under a sea of concrete’.

More homes will be needed, traffic levels will rise and there will be mountains of household waste requiring disposal.