Net migration from outside the EU has hit the highest level in nearly 15 years, as a post-Brexit plunge in arrivals from the bloc continued, new figures reveal.

Overall, the balance between the numbers arriving in and leaving the UK remained above 250,000 – nearly three times the Government’s target level of below 100,000.

Office for National Statistics data showed that 261,000 more non-EU citizens came to the country than left in the year ending September 2018.

This was the highest estimate since 2004.

EU net migration continued to add to the UK’s population, but it almost halved year-on-year to 57,000 – a level last seen in 2009.

Overall, around 283,000 more people moved to the UK with an intention to stay 12 months or more than left.

Hayden Smith, Press Association Home Affairs Correspondent