Almost 8,000 Bulgarian and Romanian workers registered to work in the UK in the three months after their countries joined the EU, BBC reported, citing official figures.

A total of 7,935 workers from the two countries were granted permission to arrive between January and March, according to the government.

Some 5,075 were allowed to apply directly for jobs, 2,660 registered as self-employed and 2,425 arrived as seasonal farm workers. Two hundred who arrived said they were self-sufficient.

Half of the applicants were between 25 and 34 years old.

Six out of every 10 applicants came from Romania. Almost a third of the workers went into the entertainment and leisure industry.

Figures also show an increase in workers arriving from the eight Eastern European nations, which joined the EU in May 2004.

A total of 49,000 workers from the eight countries applied to work in the UK, increasingly filling gaps in the public sector.

Poles continue to make up the vast majority of economic migrants, representing more than 70% of those seeking work.

More than 640,000 workers from Eastern Europe have sought work in the UK since the EU expanded in May 2004.

Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union in January 2007 - but the government decided not to allow its workers free access to the British labour market.

The UK was one of the only countries to allow free access to its labour market for the eight European nations including Poland that joined in May 2004.

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