The number of EU citizens being prevented from entering the UK has soared over the past three months despite a massive reduction in travel because of Covid, according to Home Office figures.

A total of 3,294 EU citizens were prevented from entering the UK, even though post-Brexit rules mean they are allowed to visit the country without visas. That compares with 493 EU citizens in the first quarter of last year, when air traffic was 20 times higher.

Visitors, however, can be stopped or detained and expelled if they are suspected of traveling to Britain to work or settle without meeting the new visa requirements.

Passenger air traffic from the EU is expected to jump almost 20-fold again once Covid-19 restrictions are fully lifted, with experts warning that the number of expulsions and detainees will also grow as a result