The number of Eastern Europeans flooding into Britain has soared to 700 a day.

Official figures show there are 579,000 Poles and other residents of the former Soviet Bloc registered to work here.

The total does not include the self-employed, children or partners of the migrants, who do not appear in the Government figures.

The true number is likely to stand at 800,000 - or one in every 75 people living in the UK.

It is the equivalent of a city the size of Leeds, the third biggest in the UK.

The migrants - as well as placing enormous pressure on schools and hospitals - are receiving up to £75million in benefits.

According to a Home Office report, 70,000 are receiving handouts such as tax credits, child benefit or council housing. It is a leap of 15,000 claimants in three months, or almost 30 per cent.

Most worrying for the Government is that the influx, which began with the controversial expansion of the EU eastwards in May 2004, shows no sign of slowing.

During the last three months of 2006, there were a staggering 63,000 new applications to join the worker registration scheme.

It is the equivalent of 700 a day, or 14 coachloads pulling into London's Victoria coach station.

Crucially, the total is 23 per cent higher than during the same period of 2005 - when 566 arrived every day - suggesting that Poles and other Eastern Europeans are keener than ever to move here.

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: "These statistics betray John Reid's utter failure to get a grip on the chaos in the immigration system.

"The Government assured us that no more than 13,000 immigrants per year would arrive from A8 countries (those that joined the EU in 2004). This figure completely blows that estimate out of the water. "Immigration can be of real benefit to the country but only if it is properly controlled, taking into account its impact on the economy, public services and social cohesion. This is demonstrably not the case."

The benefit payouts will be an embarrassment to the Government, which claimed they would be kept to a minimum.

Ministers insist most of those heading here are young men with no interest in receiving state handouts. But there are now 70,000 people in receipt of tax credits, child support and even council housing.

Once a migrant has been working here for 12 months, they are entitled to the same level of support as any British citizen. Word has also reached Poland of generous benefit payments to eastern Europeans with children - including a rule which allows workers to claim Tax Credits for children even if they do not travel to Britain and remain in their homeland.

There have been 533 successful applications for Income Support (£57.45 a week), 1,221 for Job Seeker's Allowance (also worth £57.45 a week) and 41 for State Pension Credit (which gives a guaranteed income of £114.05 a week.)

Some 45,252 claim child benefit (worth £17.45 for the first child and £11.70 for each further youngster), 22,685 are receiving Tax Credits (worth up to £5,200 a year) and 173 families have been given local authority housing. Some 615 are receiving other homelessness support. The total bill is likely to be £75million.

The figures pre-date the entry of Romania and Bulgaria to the EU, on January 1 this year.