Migrant workers ready to work for as low as one pound an hour in Britain

LONDON: The new batch of immigrants to the UK are desperate to stay and work for just one pound an hour, according to an investigation.

Gangs touting for work in British cities are happy to take well below the 5.73 pound an hour minimum wage.

Many will settle for 25 pound daily rates, but now a fresh wave of migrants who have come across the Channel are prepared to go as low as one pound an hour.

Thousands of immigrants' queuing at camps at Channel ports in France say they would rather work for next to nothing than go home, the Daily Star reported.

At Calais, 24-year-old Iraqi Khalid said: "Most of us would certainly work for one pound an hour. We'd work for anything. We know Britain offers free accommodation and food, but we also want to work."

"We have great respect for the English, but in the end it is the people who are prepared to work the hardest who should get the jobs. If the British can't compete with one pound an hour then that's their problem," said Iqbar (19) from Iraq.

The threat from single pound -an-hour migrants is the latest blow to hit the country as it reels under the effects of the recession.