IN response to Mr Reece's letter headlined "Facts and figures on housing provision," immigration" statistics that are published in the media state that every year, 300,000 immigrants, plus their dependents, come here to join (extended) family members already here.

The Government has just increased the numbers of work permits to 200,000 a year, and work permit holders can apply for residency, and bring their families here.

We have more than 100,000 asylum seekers a year, and probably double that, because it is now no longer worth the hassle of applying for asylum.

Then the Government has changed the rules on "students."

The 50,000 that come here are now to be permitted to "work." There are also the 100,000 a year who come here to holiday, and don't go home. I make that 750,000 people a year, not including dependents.

Doesn't that mean that immigration is now running at over a million a year? And then there are estimated to be three million living here illegally.

That figure doesn't include immigration from Europe.There is the tidal wave of immigration to come, from Eastern Europe. How many millions of those people will come here? The knee-jerk reaction of the "authorities" to such figures would be to "rubbish" them.

But how can we ever satisfy the demand for homes, against such a deluge of immigration? Are we going to concrete over our entire nation, to accommodate the millions of immigrants that are determined to come here?

N TAYLOR,

Worcester.