MIGRANTS from Eastern Europe are reducing the skills shortage in the construction industry but it is less easy for Britons to work in their countries.

Last year's EU enlargement made it easier for migrants from countries like Poland and the Czech Republic to find work in the UK. And this looks like a good thing with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) reporting 30 per cent of their south west members having difficulties in recruiting trades people.

Nationally 38 per cent of trades people are reporting such difficulties, compared with 45 per cent in the third quarter of 2003.

Jill Craig, Head of RICS Policy, Europe, said: "Now it is much easier for migrant EU workers to make their way across borders for jobs. Now workers can leave for the UK on a whim."

RICS says this trend looks set to continue, with the decline in vocational training and apprenticeships.

Ms Craig said: "At the labour level the system is working well but this liberal market ideology has yet to penetrate professional skills." But Ms Craig says it is easier for migrant workers to find work in the UK than for UK workers to find work overseas.

She said: "There are still many barriers for UK construction and property professionals wishing to practice outside the UK and RICS is working hard to ensure this becomes more two-way."