CHRIS BISHOP Migrant workers flocking to work in the Lincolnshire Fens are creating a housing shortage, a conference in Spalding will hear today.

CHRIS BISHOP

Migrant workers flocking to work in the Lincolnshire Fens are creating a housing shortage, a conference in Spalding will hear today.

South Holland Council says the numbers of migrant workers in its area have increased tenfold in two years. 70,000 are believed to be living in Lincolnshire, and South Holland warns of unrest if a shortage of affordable homes is not addressed.

But neighbouring councils say they do not share the same problem.

West Norfolk Council leader John Dobson said: "We do not have the same problem in West Norfolk. These are two distinct areas."

He added: "The number is increasing but that's not to say the increase is significant and it can be accommodated within existing policy at the moment."

Gordon Partridge, principal environmental health officer with Breckland Council, said an influx of migrant workers around Swaffham had seen the number of shared houses increase from 100 to 500.

"There has been a rapid increase, it's brought some issues but we're on top of that," he said.

A Fenland District Council spokesman said there was no property shortage caused by migrant workers.