Britain full to bursting

The most overcrowded parts of Britain have seen their populations rocket in the past 15 years, official figures revealed yesterday.
London – which is by far the most densely-populated area of the country – now has nearly 5,000 people crammed into every square kilometre.
According to the Office for National Statistics, the numbers squeezed into the most crowded parts of Britain have soared by 10 per cent since 1997.

London - which is by far the most densely-populated area of the country - now has nearly 5,000 people crammed into every square kilometre

But that figure does not include the hundreds of thousands who are living here without declaring themselves to the authorities.
The rising number who choose to live in England’s prosperous southern regions made the country the most overcrowded in Europe two years ago.

 

The latest figures show there are an average of more than 400 people living in every square kilometre of England.

Berwick-on-Tweed in Northumberland had only 27 people on average to each square kilometre

Critics blame the population surge on the last Labour government’s policy of encouraging large-scale immigration. The population density of London has risen by 11.6 per cent since 1997; in the East of England by 10.5 per cent, and by nearly 9 per cent across the rest of the South.
Some say present rates of population growth will lead to intolerable pressures on transport, housing, water and energy supplies.
Coalition promises to reduce net migration – the number added to the population every year, taking into account those arriving in the country and leaving – to 1990s levels of below 100,000 a year have yet to be fulfilled.
Latest figures show net migration continues to run at more than 250,000 a year.
The population density of London has risen from 4,462 people in every square kilometre in 1997 to 4,978 in 2010. The most jam-packed part of the capital is the borough of Kensington and Chelsea, which has 13,973 per square kilometre – an increase of 16.2 per cent.
By contrast, Berwick-on-Tweed and Tynedale, both in Northumberland, have only 27 people on average to each square kilometre.
With 447 to every square kilometre, the South East is now more crowded than the Netherlands or Belgium.

The most crowded region of England remains the North West, which has 492 to every square kilometre. However, its population density has gone up only 2.1 per cent since 1997. Scotland is the least crowded area of Britain. It has 67 people to each square kilometre, up from 65 in 1997.
Sir Andrew Green, of the Migration-Watch think tank, said: ‘This is crystal-clear evidence of the impact of mass immigration on the population of a rather small island.
‘Immigration now accounts for two-thirds of our projected population increase and we are already the most crowded country in Europe.
‘The pressure of population means we shall have to build 200 homes a day for the next 20 years to accommodate new immigrants. The evidence is mounting that the country cannot cope with mass immigration on this scale and it is high time the political system responded by taking effective measures.’
Surveys used to gauge population levels do not take into account people from the EU who come as visitors but stay long-term and those from elsewhere who overstay their visas or are here illegally.
The national census in 2001 missed at least a million people, many of them in London. Results of the new, and possibly last, census, are due out later this year, but this time it may have missed as many as two million people.
Attempts to get a more accurate picture, taking into account NHS records and databases from banks and storecards, are under way.

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