A TAX on immigrants will be used to hire extra police officers, teaching assistants and community workers across the Westcountry.

Almost £1.7 million has been allocated to councils in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset this year, which ministers hope will ease pressure on services in an area where even small changes in demographic can have a major impact.

Communities Secretary John Denham said the levy on migrants would help counter the tensions which, he claims, have led to an increase in support for the likes of the British National Party.

"What we need to do is make sure the short-term pressures do not become the rubbing points that extremists will exploit," he said. "When people feel that population change is leaving them competing for jobs or access to services, the upsides of migration become less apparent and can raise fears and concerns."

He said the funding should "redress that balance" by minimising the impact of an influx of migrants.

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"We are working across Government to deliver a migration system that matches opportunities to obligations, duties to rewards. It is only right that people coming to our country support the communities in which they live. That is why this new fund has been provided by migrants, on top of the normal everyday taxes we all pay."

All migrants from outside the EU will be charged between £50 and £200, depending on how long they stay in the UK.

For this year, Plymouth City Council has been allocated £468,000 to encourage migrants to sign up to a GP instead of overloading A&E departments with minor ailments.

Inclusion Cornwall will receive £416,777 to recruit two migrant Police Community Support Officers and give backing to the charity Amber Initiatives, in acting as a point of contact for migrants accessing services. It is hoped the measure will "reduce strain" on local services and foster better relationships between migrants and police.

Devon County Council will receive £459,700 for projects including recruiting five teaching assistants to provide additional classes and Saturday schools, easing the pressure on teachers.

And Somerset Strategic Partnership will receive £314,094 to employ two Polish Police Community Support Officers and Polish and Portuguese community workers to advise migrants on accessing services.

Similar sums have been provisionally allocated for next year, though details of projects have not been released.

Nationally an extra £3 million will be spent over two years on proposals to tackle illegal working practices, including enforcing the minimum wage, increasing awareness of Health and Safety regulations and tackling rogue employment agencies.

Numerous public bodies have warned of the extra drain on their resources caused by an influx of migrants. For example, the bill for Devon and Cornwall police to hire interpreters has more than doubled in five years to almost £290,000-a-year.

Other services to have reported problems include A&E departments dealing with medical complaints more suited to the GP surgery, while in Devon queues of foreign nationals using council services such as libraries have created "public resentment, which builds up and at times boils over". When the Government first announced the £70 million fund, the think-tank Migrationwatch said the money would be a "drop in the ocean".