EVEN Nicolas Sarkozy, the right’s candidate for French president, admitted the embarrassing truth last week when he held an election rally in London.

Now the French embassy has confirmed the extent to which Britain has become a refuge for young wealth-creators fleeing the stifling bureaucracy and stagnant labour market of their homeland: it estimates that up to 300,000 live in this country.

Sarkozy went so far last week as to describe London as “one of the great French cities” and the destination of choice for those who “believe it is no longer possible to do anything there (in France)”.

In contrast to the common perception of one-way traffic across the channel, with Britons leaving for an easier lifestyle, the statistics suggest the numbers migrating are roughly equal.

As EU citizens, the French are not obliged to notify the British authorities of their presence. However, the number formally registered with the French embassy has risen from 70,000 in 2000 to 109,000 now, although the rise may partly be explained by measures making it easier to do so.

But while France is receiving middle-aged British expatriates who intend to downsize or move into semi-retirement, the French authorities fear they are losing qualified young professionals seeking to advance their careers.

At last week’s rally, where many of the 2,000 supporters wore T-shirts with the slogan “Les jeunes de Londres avec Nicolas Sarkozy”, the French interior minister said: “They leave because they are risk- takers — and (in France) risk is a bad word.”

Many of the French émigrés living in Britain are critical of the introduction of the 35-hour maximum working week in 2000.

Lucille Konialidis, 33, who grew up near Nice on the French Riviera, but now lives in Kensington, London, said: “It’s more liberal here — if you work you have success, not like in France.”

With the French population in Britain rivalling that of French cities such as Bordeaux, Strasbourg or Nantes — with an average 260,000 inhabitants — migrants also criticised the unwillingness of employers at home to give chances to young job applicants. This is partly because of the country’s high welfare contributions and strict labour laws, but also because of attitudes often criticised as rigid.

Many said that French employers insist candidates must have the exact diploma designated for the job they want, restricting their opportunities to win jobs or promotion.

Thierry Morel, a 35-year-old writer and film director based in Oxford, said: “In France if you read classics and history at university you can become a teacher, but not, say, a banker. Things are more flexible here.”

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