Britain's non-white population is set to treble by the middle of this century, an expert has claimed.

Oxford University professor of demography David Coleman found that the proportion of the UK population classed as non-white was on course to grow from 9 per cent at the last census in 2001 to 29 per cent in 2051.

Professor Coleman has also predicted the population will expand by at least 15 million by 2051, up from last year's figure of 60 million.

His projections are expected to be confirmed by Government population experts this week.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said last month their estimates for the number of people migrating to the UK had increased to 190,000 a year compared with 145,000 in calculations issued two years ago.

It was thought the review was mainly due to higher numbers of eastern Europeans coming to Britain since their countries joined the EU.

Professor Coleman's calculations, disclosed in a memo to the House of Lords economic affairs committee, predict the UK population will reach 69 million in 2031 and 75 million in 2051.

The projection on population figures represents a significant adjustment to those released in 2005 predicting the UK population increasing to 69 million by 2051.

He said he used the updated ONS model for his calculations but did not factor in improvement in survival "so my figures are probably underestimates by one or two million."

BPP Comment: If anything this is an UNDERSTATEMEMT. The real demographic prediction is that Whites will be a minority by 2061.