The UK Border Agency (UKBA) has been criticised for spending £7.8m on public relations work last year.

Shadow immigration minister Damian Green questioned whether the money, which he said was equivalent to the salaries of 260 immigration officers, would have been better spent "keeping Britain's borders safe".

In response, a spokesman for the UKBA has insisted that publicity campaigns are an important part of its work in deporting, and preventing the arrival of, thousands of illegal immigrants.

The figure, which represents 0.38 per cent of UKBA's total budget for 2008/09 according to a written parliamentary answer, includes £2m for marketing and £3.3m for advertising and promotion.

Green was particularly critical of plans to hire a new campaign team, including a campaigns manager earning up to £59,708 a year and a senior marketing manager earning up to £44,201 a year.

"One of the new roles will have 'responsibility for brand guardianship'," he said. "Wouldn't it be better to have more people responsible for keeping Britain's borders safe?"

A UKBA spokesman has defended the organisation’s methods, pointing out that it also employs 25,000 staff working in local communities, at the border and in 135 countries around the world.

"Publicity campaigns are an important means to help the UK Border Agency deter illegal working and smuggling and promote legal compliance by businesses and travellers," he added. "We are committed to keeping the public informed."

In 2008, he added, UKBA stopped more than 28,000 attempts to cross the Channel, searched more than one million lorries and removed over 5,000 foreign citizens from British prisons.