Nearly half of all British Asians think that the country accepts too many immigrants, a government advisory body said yesterday.

Almost seven out of ten people surveyed said that there were too many migrants in the UK, while 47 per cent of Asians and 45 per cent of blacks also felt that there was too much immigration, according to the report by the Commission on Integration and Cohesion.

The advisory body, set up by Ruth Kelly, Communities Secretary, a year ago, has drawn up a map showing the parts of England where the influx of immigrants has created the greatest tension.

The map charts responses from people across the country to the question: “To what extent do you agree or disagree that this local area (within 15/20 minutes walking distance) is a place where people from different backgrounds get on well together?”

Those who agreed or strongly agreed that people of different backgrounds got on well in their areas ranged from 38 per cent to 90 per cent. In ten out of 387 areas the figure was under 60 per cent.

The report also says that millions of pounds spent on attempts to help immigrants have unwittingly helped fuel community divisions. It claims that the widespread practice of translating official documents and signs into different minority languages has backfired by ensuring that immigrants never bother to learn English.

One way of improving relations could be for British-born teenagers to undergo citizenship ceremonies alongside new immigrants, the report says.

Both could learn “what it means to vote and to sit on a jury...alongside civic information.”

More than half of people questioned in the survey felt some groups — asylum seekers, refugees or immigrants — got unfair priority for housing, health and schools.

It calls for a shift in the way local authorities and Whitehall tackle mixed populations, moving away from supporting individual migrant groups in favour of those that are disposed to mixing between races.

Ms Kelly said: “This is a wake-up call to local government that I hope will provoke a real cultural change. The report is striking because it shows how some local authorities have managed the change in society very much better than others.”

Among key recommendations are curbs on the translation of government leaflets with the money saved spent on English teaching.

A national community week should be established, possibly with a new Bank Holiday that would celebrate “cross-cultural activities”, school twinning involving linking pupils in different regions or communities, and advice packs for migrants.

Immigrants would receive a “cultural briefing pack” that would advise them about British customs such as queueing, expected standards of behaviour and their rights. “The packs may say that we like to queue at the post office and we don’t really like spitting in the street,” a spokesman for the Commission said.

Research indicated an even split over whether migration was good for the economy, with 36 per cent agreeing and a similar percentage disagreeing.

The document added that funding from the public purse and other sources such as the Lottery should not normally go to organisations that are based solely on race or religion.

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