People visiting Britain on visas are to be sent text messages warning them that their “time is running out” as part of John Reid’s get-tough policy towards illegal immigrants.

But the Home Office admitted that the effectiveness of the initiative will be limited, as there is no obligation on visitors to provide officials with their mobile phone numbers.

The department also conceded that, even if it texts people that their visa is about to run out, it will not know whether they have left the country as “we don’t track people as they leave”.

Mr Reid is at odds with Britain’s chief constables over how many police officers are to be seconded to help the immigration enforcement strategy, published today.

The paper, Enforcing the Rules, says that 250 additional police officers will be part of a doubling of the frontline capacity to deal with illegal immigrants.

But the figure was disputed by the Association of Chief Police Officers. A spokeswoman said: “We have agreed they can have some extra police officers. We are not talking about figures. This still has to be discussed with individual chief constables.”

Last November the Home Secretary announced that 400 police officers and 40 sergeants would join new teams to boost enforcement, but the Association of Chief Police Officers rejected his request, arguing that the officers could not be spared.

The plan to warn visitors by text that their visas are about to expire is one of a number of proposals that Mr Reid said were intended to “make life in this country ever more uncomfortable and constrained for those who come here illegally”.

Officials defended the plan, while it was ridiculed by opposition politicians. The Home Office said it was intended to remind people to leave but also to let them know that the Immigration Service had not forgotten about them.

Under the plans, landlords could be fined up to £20,000 for housing illegal immigrants, and new systems could be put in place to identify fraudulent applications for driving licences.

Other measures include a “watch list” to alert government agencies if someone applies for services to which they are not entitled.

The document also says that “we will review the rules governing access to the NHS by foreign nationals”.

However, a spokeswoman for the health department said that the review had not been finalised. “The scope has not been decided upon yet . . . But we are keen to ensure that NHS services take as consistent approach as possible to providing free access to health-care,” she said.

The paper discloses that a sampling exercise at one British airport last year found that “health tourists” were arriving at the rate of 15 per month, most of them being heavily pregnant women coming to Britain to have their babies on the NHS.

Opposition MPs last night mocked the idea of texting people to alert them that their visa was about to run out.

David Davis, the Shadow Home Secretary, said that the policy was a serious admission of defeat. He said: “John Reid is effectively giving up on trying to deport the hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants in this country, preferring instead to spam them with text messages.

As for removing driving licences, does he really believe that a person who is prepared to live in a country illegally is that concerned about having the correct qualifications to drive in that country?”

Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said: “If tough rhetoric and gimmicks were enough to sort out our immigration system, we would have the best in the world. John Reid himself has condemned his immigration department as unfit for purpose, yet now he is attempting to obscure that incompetence with more tough talk. Sending a text message is hardly going to stop someone from overstaying their visa.”

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