One-in-12 people living in London is an illegal immigrant, shock data reveals: Almost 600,000 of the capital’s residents have NO right to be in the UK, previously secret report says

As many as one in 12 people in London is an illegal immigrant, a shock report has claimed.

The previously confidential study commissioned by Thames Water found that the ‘irregular’ population of the capital could be more than half a million.

It aimed to quantify the ‘hidden’ users of the utility firm’s services to better meet demand.

Researchers at Edge Analytics used academic estimates of illegal migrants nationally as well as National Insurance registrations for non-EU foreign nationals over a nine-year period to estimate the numbers in each London borough.

The study produced a range of figures from 390,355 at the lowest to 585,533 at the highest with a median figure of 487,944.

It suggested most illegal migrants arrived in the UK on work, study or visitor visas then overstayed.

The report obtained by The Telegraph claimed there is estimated to be more than one million illegal migrants in the UK, with 60 per cent of them in England’s capital. 

Many illegal migrants arrive in the UK on…