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Kent Police chief constable, Mike Fuller has warned the home secretary Jacqui Smith, that his force is struggling to cope with “migration surges” that are leading to increased crime, reports the Times Online.

The website article claims that in a leaked private letter, chief constable Mike Fuller, tells Smith the government’s failure to provide extra funds to match the influx of immigrants will have a “negative impact on performance”.

He says he will need more than 500 extra constables if the population increase caused by immigration continues.

In his letter to the home secretary dated October 22 last year, the police chief reportedly states: “I feel it is essential that I set out the impact that population growth is having in Kent and the pressure it is placing on finite resources.”

He estimates 78% of the population growth is accounted for by migration. This has contributed to a rise of more than a third in violent crimes over five years to about 7,800 incidents last year. He estimates the total additional cost to the force to be £34m over the past three years, but claims increases in funding from the Home Office have failed to keep pace.

In his letter he warns that government predictions about immigration and population growth have proved unreliable. He concludes: “There is a danger that if the future funding regime fails to respond to dynamic changes in migration the extra demand this generates will impact negatively on performance.”

The Chief Constable warns that Kent suffers special problems policing the ferry ports and Channel tunnel. “As the gateway to Europe, Kent has unique geographical status which places additional strain on limited resources.” Fuller is not the first police chief to complain that government funding is failing to take account of rising immigration. Julie Spence, of Cambridgeshire police, warned last year that new arrivals, often from eastern Europe, had left her force struggling to deal with certain offences including knife crime and drink driving. She said immigrant communities had “different standards” from the UK.

Ashford MP Damian Green, Conservative immigration spokesman, said ministers had misled the public: “This is clear evidence that all over the country public services have found it impossible to cope with the unplanned and rapid rise in population over the past few years.

“This is another largely rural police force which is having to spend money on translation services and cope with extra pressures caused by fast rates of immigration. Without properly controlled immigration this problem will only get worse.”

Keith Vaz, Labour chairman of the home affairs committee, said: “Mike Fuller raises very important issues concerned with the changing needs of local areas as a result of migration. It is important that in looking at funding formulas the government understands that there are pressures that need to be addressed. We will be looking at this issues when we launch our forthcoming inquiry into policing.”

Fuller, Britain’s first black chief constable, is regarded as a high-flyer. He recently qualified as a barrister, training in his spare time, and has been tipped as a future Metropolitan police commissioner.

A Home Office spokesman said: “We will consider any evidence provided by the police.”