A report commissioned by the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) highlighted the rise in the number of Brazilian families working in the East.

The EEDA said if a migrant was selected to play football for England it could change attitudes towards immigrants.

The report's findings were debated in Cambridge on Wednesday.

'English Pele'

An EEDA spokeswoman told the conference: "We should be finding ways to encourage people to stay in this country and make significant contributions to the economy not treat with them hostility.

"Maybe the prospect of an English Pele would help people see immigrants in a different way.

"We ought to remember that Shane Warne and Ronaldo are also migrant workers who have moved to England for economic reasons - but not many people have objections to them being here."

Migrant workers from Brazil, Portugal, Poland, South Africa, Lithuania, Albania, Kosovo and Russia are coming to parts of England to work in farming, catering and food processing industries, the report found.

Trends show that the number of migrant workers was increasing, but the exact numbers was unknown.