POLAND is now the most common overseas country of birth in the UK, after overtaking India for the first time.

The revelation came as figures showed net long-term migration dipped slightly - but remains close to record levels and more than three times the Government's target.

There were an estimated 831,000 Polish-born residents in 2015 - a jump of almost three quarters of a million compared with 2004, the year the country joined the EU.

This compared with 795,000 people born in India, which had been the most common non-UK country of birth for the previous 11 years.

Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, said: "Traditionally the UK's relationship with Ireland and the former colonies have been key factors in shaping its migrant population.

"What we can see from current data is that in recent years the EU has played a similar role."

Overall, one in eight people living in the UK last year was born abroad, while one in 12 had non-British nationality - compared with one in 11 and one in 20 in 2004 respectively.

There were 3.2 million EU citizens in Britain in 2015 - a figure which has almost tripled in just over a decade.

And separate figures also showed that more than a quarter of live births in England and Wales last year were to women born outside the UK, the highest level on record.

Meanwhile, net migration to the UK - the difference between the numbers arriving and leaving - stood at an estimated 327,000 in the year to March.

This was a slight fall compared with the previous 12 months, but still the third highest level on record.

Nicola White, of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which published the figures, said: "Net migration remains at record levels, although the recent trend is broadly flat."

The findings sparked fresh controversy over the Tories' aim to bring the figure below 100,000.

Lord Green, of campaign group Migration Watch UK, said: "Unfortunately, these figures show no progress in reducing net migration from the record level of one third of a million a year.

"The referendum result demonstrated public concern about the scale of immigration. It simply cannot be allowed to continue."

Shadow Home Office minister Carolyn Harris said: "Once again, the Tory promise on immigration lies in tatters and net migration remains more than three times their target."

Immigration minister Robert Goodwill said reducing the number of migrants coming to the UK will be a priority for the negotiations to leave the EU.

He added: " We are also committed to reducing non-EU migration across all visa routes in order to bring net migration down to sustainable levels as soon as possible."

He insisted Government reforms "are working", but added: "There is no doubt there is far more to do."