Net migration to the UK could be cut by about 100,000 a year post-Brexit through a work permit scheme for EU workers, the Lords has been told.

Independent crossbencher Lord Green of Deddington said it was obvious from the referendum result that the scale of immigration must be reduced.

Lord Green, chairman of Migration Watch UK, a think tank which campaigns for tighter immigration controls, urged ministers to consider a work permit regime similar to that for non-EU workers.

"In our calculation, that would reduce net migration by about 100,000 a year - a major step towards the Government's objective," he said.

In debate on a Lords EU committee report on UK-EU movement of people, Lord Green said a "sudden exodus" of eastern European workers was very unlikely, although numbers would come down over time.

A work permit scheme would "preserve for British industry access to the high skills they really need" and seasonal schemes could be introduced for specified agricultural or horticultural workers.

Lord Green said the UK taxpayer had been subsidising an "increasing dependence by employers on cheap labour from abroad".

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Urging peers to "wake-up" to the problem and back a "feasible way forward," he warned the UK's population could increase by 10 million in the next 20 years, which would require building "the equivalent of the city of Birmingham every two years".

The debate came as Brexit Secretary David Davis led fresh talks on the "substance" of EU withdrawal in Brussels, with the issue of citizens' rights high on the agenda.

It follows a claim by former Prime Minister Tony Blair that some EU leaders may be prepared to compromise on the free movement of people to help Britain stay in the single market.