BOURNEMOUTH needs millions of pounds in extra funding to cope with an increase in migrants moving to the area, it is claimed.

New figures indicate the town has one of the highest levels of economic migrants in the country outside of London, largely because of its thriving tourism and hospitality industry.

And councillors and MPs fear social services, schools and hospitals will suffer if more money is not forthcoming.

Sir John Butterfill, MP for Bournemouth West, said the country needed a sensible debate on immigration levels.

"Frankly we are just allowing too many immigrants in, more than we can cope with," he said.

"The council has said that it is posing problems for them. We need to look at how many people we can accommodate, where we're going to house them and where the jobs are going to come from."

A report commissioned by the Local Government Association and written by the Institute of Community Cohesion points out it is notoriously difficult to calculate how many immigrants are living in each region.

But they have compiled a list of the number of national insurance numbers registered to overseas nationals in 2006/07 and Bournemouth comes 33rd on that list - 11th if you do not include London boroughs.

In 2004/05, 1,880 migrants registered in Bournemouth to get a national insurance number, a number that went up to 2,750 in 2005/06 and 4,120 last year.

The report highlights several areas that are coming under strain - housing, translation and interpretation services, work to prevent racial and cultural tension, health and inappropriate use of GPs and A&E departments and children's services and education.

It also calls for a special migration contingency fund to allow councils with high levels of migration, like Bournemouth, to apply for extra money.

Tobias Ellwood, MP for Bournemouth East, said: "The concern has to be that 130,000 people coming into the country every single year is simply unsustainable.

"Although many do contribute hugely, particularly in Bournemouth, we have to bear in mind the consequences this is having on our infrastructure."