Worshipers at The Church of Our Lady Mother even spill out to the steps

The UK has proved a popular destination for migrants from Poland and several other Eastern European countries since they joined the EU in 2004.

The Politics Show looks at how they have fared since then, prior to the EU's borders expanding again, to include Romania and Bulgaria in 2007.

The Church of Our Lady Mother is the cornerstone of a tight-knit Polish community.

With seven services taking place during the day more than 4,000 faithful pack into its pews on Sundays.

Most of them are young families.

But this is not Warsaw or Gdansk, it is Ealing in West London, and it is not the only Eastern European enclave in the country.

Hundreds of thousands of Poles have settled in the UK since their country joined the European Union two years ago.

They have taken advantage of the open door policy of Tony Blair's government to seek higher wages and a better standard of living.

Unrestricted access

The United Kingdom was only one of three countries in the EU to allow the new EU citizens unrestricted access to its labour market.

The resulting migrant wave has created new communities, filled skills gaps and generated millions of pounds for the economy, and put pressure on services.

In recent months, the Politics Show has been reporting some of these developments.

In Southampton, a huge Polish community has created pressures on local schools and GPs report pressure on health facilities.

Exploitation?

Polish bars in London are pivotal to the community too

Bus users in Bath and Bristol have been relying on Polish bus drivers for several years after their local company started recruiting there to ease a shortage of home-grown drivers.

But now there are concerns in the West of England that vulnerable workers are being exploited.

In the West Midlands tens of thousands of migrant workers are competing with the region's unemployed for sometimes scarce jobs.

But in London, many Polish workers have found work and filled skills gaps.

Others have ended up sleeping rough, and Westminster Council has paid for more than 200 to return to Poland.

A wider Europe ahead

Some people blame the government for the problems which have emerged.

Figures published in August showed early estimates of the numbers likely to come to the UK were way off target.

In fact, around 600,000 have come, from Poland and the other Eastern European countries which joined the EU at the same time.

The issue will remain at the top of the agenda because Romania and Bulgaria join the EU early next year.

And, this week the Politics Show reports on arguments within government about how to respond to a likely new wave of migration from those countries.

Join Jon Sopel and guests for the Politics Show on Sunday 24 September 2006 at 12:00 BST on BBC One.

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