Most Britons against illegal immigrant amnesty

The survey of 2,400 people found that 45 percent were strongly against the idea of an amnesty, 27 percent merely disagreed, while 11 percent were in favour. The rest said they did not know.

In addition, 55 percent agreed that Britain had been changed "for the worse" by immigration because "something of our traditional culture has been lost".

Last month, Immigration Minister Liam Byrne refused to rule out the prospect of offering an amnesty to illegal immigrants living in the country.

The government estimates that Britain harbours between 310,000 and 570,000 illegal immigrants and it could take 10 years to deport them.

Pollsters YouGov carried out the survey for Migrationwatch, which campaigns against mass migration.

"One of the most fundamental responsibilities of government is the control of a nation's borders," said the think-tank's chairman Sir Andrew Green.

"However you dressed it up, an amnesty would be a clear admission of failure and an invitation to others to try their luck.

"Wherever amnesties have been held they have failed to deal with the problem of illegal immigration.

"In fact they have simply made a bad situation worse."

Green said such an amnesty in Britain would cost the taxpayer at least 500 million pounds (920 million dollars, 720 million euros) a year.