Unscrupulous employment agencies in other EU member states are "at the heart of some of the worst abuses" affecting migrant workers in the UK, a London conference on migrant workers has heard.

Richard Howitt, a Labour MEP and the party's spokesperson on foreign affairs in the European Parliament, told the audience at the East of England Development Agency conference that not only were foreign agencies spreading myths about Britain, such as "the streets of Peterborough are paved with gold", they were also "making illegal deductions from wages for accommodation", and discouraging workers to complain.