By Prasun Sonwalkar

London, May 31 (IANS) Is England more crowded than India and China? Yes, according to a British trust conducting research on population issues.

In a new study by the Optimum Population Trust (OPT), England is said to be the fourth most densely populated country in the world. Mass migration into England, it said, was putting a huge strain on resources.

If immigration continued unchecked, it said, as many 57 towns of the size of Luton would need to be built.

Figures show there are 386 people for every square kilometre in England. India has 328 per sq km while the worse off are Bangladesh (1,002), South Korea (491) and the Netherlands (395).

Britain as a whole comes 17th on the list, with 244 people per sq km but that is still far higher than the 136 in China, which is at number 28.

The report said: "The UK...is more densely populated than China: England, by some estimates, is the world's fourth most crowded country. Yet projected population growth of more than 10 million in the UK by 2074 is equivalent to building 57 more towns the size of Luton, even without taking into account household fragmentation, and the construction of over seven million more houses and flats.

"Government projections show migration accounting for more than 80 percent of UK population growth. With parts of the country already facing serious water supply problems, population growth on this scale will make the UK increasingly vulnerable to resource and energy shortages and will increase its contribution to climate change."

Aubrey Manning, OPT patron and emeritus professor of natural history at the University of Edinburgh, told an all party parliamentary group that Britain had a moral obligation to accept some immigration, "but we need immigration like we need a hole in the head".

Stating that life support systems of the earth were "clearly under severe pressure," he added: "On a global scale, most immigration is a social tragedy, often arising as one result of rapid population growth ...which has outstripped the resources to support it.

"People are in surplus and often those most needed at home are those who leave... [A] gradual reduction to our population is...the only way to secure any quality of life for future human beings."

The report is likely to further ignite debates about immigration and the ability of the beleaguered Home Office to cope with the issue. Home Secretary John Reid recently admitted that the department was not fit to undertake its duties.

The report added: "Worldwide, total numbers of migrants increased by up to 17 million between 2000 and 2005, from 175 million in 2000 to 185-192 million in 2005, according to UN figures. There are an estimated 30 million environmental refugees, a category expected to increase sharply."