How I struck lucky

For one new arrival from Eastern Europe the future looks good.

Marketa Hrckova, 29, from Ostrava in the Czech Republic, arrived on 22 May after a 20-hour bus journey. A shop manager at home, she has used her excellent English to good effect to start a temporary job in House of Fraser on Oxford Street.

She said: "I walked all along Oxford Street looking for work. Eventually I went to an agency, Adecco, and they found me a job."

Ms Hrckova shares a house with nine others and is saving so her husband Radek, a 32-year-old policeman, can come over. She added: "I plan to stay about five years in London - it depends on the job."