Estimates of the numbers of immigrants who have come to the city since the European Union was enlarged three years ago vary, but it is thought up to 20,000 may be here.

It now appears a small proportion of them are seeing their hopes of work and prosperity in this country dashed, with about 20 among the 100 people who come on a typical day to St Theresa's, in Manor House Street, for help.

Special Report: The future of Peterborough: Immigration in the city
The ET spotlights some of the key issues facing Peterborough as the city plans for the future.
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Manager Doug Styles said over the last nine months, the centre had dealt with 65 new clients from the former eastern bloc, who represent 81 per cent of the foreign homeless registered with the charity.

He added the Europeans had sometimes fallen on hard times after being made unemployed and losing accommodation tied to their jobs.

Mr Styles said: "With the surge of economic migrants, there's going to be some fall-out of people not having accommodation. They come across problems accessing benefits because they have not been in the country long enough, or have not worked in the country long enough, so even if they go to the council, the council can't house them because they don't get housing benefit.

"Every six months there is a count of people sleeping rough in Peterborough and in December we found 10 people. Eight of them were economic migrants.

"That doesn't sound like a lot, but that's the tip of the iceberg with the hidden homeless beneath it – people who are sleeping in friends' houses, on a floor or a chair, or in a squat."

Mr Styles said the homeless eastern Europeans coming to St Theresa's door ran into trouble when their work on production lines or in agriculture ended, meaning they lost their tied accommodation as well.

Others have jobs and work night shifts, but come to St Theresa's during the day.

And some are facing the winter in a concealed camp of tents and improvised shelters in a copse of trees just a short walk from the city centre, visited this week by the ET.

To cope with the new demands on its services, St Theresa's draws on the expertise of a part-time volunteer who speaks Czech, Slovak, Polish and Russian.

Lenka Ingall (35), a part-time nurse, spends two hours of her spare time each week interpreting for the clients at St Theresa's.

She said the language barrier made it hard even for working immigrants to find somewhere permanent to live.

Lenka said: "The people are usually labourers, they have got a bit of a low IQ perhaps and they have a problem if they don't learn English.

"Most employment agencies employ Polish people, so they can tell other Poles where they need to be for work. But if there's an English person on reception, then it's difficult.

"I know people who work six days a week, but who come into the centre to get some food and try to get some sleep. They have money but don't know how to start finding accommodation."