The “scale and pace” of change caused by migration has been so fast that Eastern European migrants now make up a quarter of one British town’s population, a minister disclosed yesterday.

Hazel Blears, the Communities Secretary, admitted that the population changes since eight Eastern European countries joined the European Union in 2004 had been very fast and that people were right to be concerned. She added that the Government was considering forcing employers to pay for English lessons for migrants as a way of promoting integration.

Giving evidence to the Commons Communities Select Committee yesterday, Ms Blears revealed that one in four of the 58,300-population of Boston, Lincolnshire – where there are now 65 different languages spoken – is from Eastern Europe.

She said that other areas in Britain had different concerns, with Haringey in North London, for example, being worried about the arrival of large African families.

Ms Blears said that the public was right to be concerned at the extent of immigration over the past few years. “There are some communities that, because of the scale and pace of change that has taken place, are feeling the impact. It is absolutely right that we acknowledge that,” Ms Blears told MPs.

The population of Boston has risen from 55,700 at the 2001 Census to 58,300, according to an estimate by the Office for National Statistics in 2006. However, the local council believes that, on the basis of GP registrations and national insurance figures, the actual figure could be 70,000.

Bev Smith, from Boston Borough Council, said: “Our experience high-lights that migrant workers have a vital contribution to make to our local and regional economy, but it is vital to ensure that public services meet the needs of all people in the area – indigenous and migrant population alike.” Tracey Sharp, 19, who works as assistant manager at The Prospect pub in the town, said that language skills were essential to ensure that groups mixed. “I have lived here all my life and you do sometimes feel there are more foreigners now than English people. There are nice foreigners who we have a laugh with, but then there are those who can’t speak English who are rude,” she said.

Arkadiusz Godlewski, 26, from Poland, arrived in Boston seven years ago, three years before his native country joined the EU. Now the part-owner of a restaurant in the town, he said: “People came to Boston because of the ability to work. There is plenty of work in Boston, on the land and in factories, and it was very easy to find a job in 2004 and 2005.

“The English and Polish communities get on well. In 2004 and 2005 there were a few bad examples of English people not liking us. It wasn’t like London, where there are lots of different communities. But they [the indigenous population] have found us helpful with work. They work with us, they live with us and we pay taxes.”

Yesterday’s committee hearing was also told of emerging new patterns of racial prejudice and hostility involving members of the Asian and Caribbean communities resenting the arrival of new groups of minority ethnic groups.

Ms Blears said that speaking English was essential if migrants and the settled community were to be comfortable with each other. She added that legislation forcing companies to pay towards the cost of English lessons would be considered if negotiations with those benefiting from overseas labour on a voluntary contribution failed. “I feel quite strongly that employers should be taking a significantly bigger role in helping to fund some of the essential English language classes,” she said.

She praised companies such as Tesco and First Group, which are providing language lessons to migrants in the workplace. But employers’ groups criticised any move towards forcing companies to pay towards funding English lessons for migrants. Susan Anderson, director of human resources policy at the CBI, said that migrant workers had brought many benefits to Britain and employers were committed to helping them to integrate. “Many employers help with the costs of English classes and see the advantages of doing so, particularly on morale, staff turnover and productivity,” she said. “But forcing firms to pay for language lessons for migrant workers would be strongly opposed as this would not recognise employers’ individual circumstances and not necessarily be the best use of their resources.”

The TUC said it was time that bosses were forced to pay for lessons as they had proved “too stingy” to do so voluntarily.

Ms Blears admitted that the Government’s information on the impact of more than 800,000 Eastern European immigrants registering for work since May 2004 was not as comprehensive as it could be and said that work was under way to ensure that the statistics caught up with recent changes. Last month the Local Government Association suggested that an additional way of measuring population could be footfall in supermarkets.

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