Russia's invasion of Ukraine is expected to hit the UK's farms hard, since Ukrainians were two-thirds of the UK's seasonal workforce last year.

A total of 19,920 seasonal worker visas were issued to Ukrainian nationals in 2021, 67 per cent of the total, according to Home Office immigration figures, write Flora Thompson and Ian Jones of PA.

The equivalent number for Russian nationals is 2,278, or 8 per cent.

The Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford said the figures raise “questions about the potential impact of conflict in Ukraine on recruitment to British farms, as the security situation in the nation deteriorates”.

Ukrainians were the second most common nationality among people granted UK work visas in 2021, almost exclusively as a result of the seasonal worker visa, according to the Observatory.

Director Madeleine Sumption said: “For most of the past 15 years, the majority of work migrants coming to the UK were from EU countries.

"Since the end of EU free movement, the large majority now come from non-EU countries.

“Today’s data show how heavily UK farms have relied on Ukrainian workers in particular, raising the question whether this source of workers will be disrupted by unpredictable events in that region.”