COLCHESTER is the fastest growing borough in the country, new figures have revealed.

Migrants from inside and outside the UK, students, soldiers and a high birth rate pushed the population of Colchester and its surrounding towns and villages to 181,000 by the middle of last year.

This is up 5,500 from 175,500 on the year before, according to Government estimates, and makes Colchester the largest borough in the county.

The number of births outstripped the number of deaths by 800, while 1,600 more people moved into the borough than left.

The number of students studying is up by 200, while the expansion of Colchester Garrison has seen about 250 more Army personnel move in.

But up to half of the increase is down to immigrants, either coming to work or study in Colchester.

Paul Smith, Colchester Council’s councillor responsible for culture and heritage, said the Government figures were imprecise, so it was difficult to know how they should be interpreted.

But he said: “Anecdotally, I think a sizeable number have come here to work.”

Mr Smith said the figures showed the borough was still an attractive place for people to move to in the midst of a recession.

He added: “We have got substantial growth in Colchester in the teeth of the recession.

“We’re still attracting substantial numbers of people in.

“We seem to be outstripping Chelmsford – it’s making Colchester clearly the premier town in Essex.

“This tallies with what we’re seeing economically as we’re having lower rises in unemployment than elsewhere in the county.”

Mr Smith added that although Colchester had rapidly grown in the past decade, in the past 12 months very few houses had been built.

But he said: “It shows the need for infrastructure in Colchester, particularly the A12 junction.”

The figures mean Colchester is the second largest district in England, second only to Northampton, with 205,200 residents.