Bulgarians and Romanians would be free to live in the UK but would face work restrictions after "concerns about the potential impact on local schools, hospitals and housing," UK immigration minister Liam Byrne said.

Work restrictions were not an attempt to limit immigration, he said as quoted by BBC.

Bulgarians and Romanians had the right of free movement in the EU including the UK. The right features among others that all EU member states have to grant.

Home secretary John Reid recently presented a package of penalties to "enforce a 20,000 cap on the number of migrant workers from Romania and Bulgaria," BBC said.

Byrne said that while there was a possibility for self employment, there would always be potential for abuse of the restrictions. UK's limited access policy was for an initial 12 months period, he said.

UK is one among the many EU member states that will limit the access of Bulgarian workers to its labour market. It was among the few union members that kept an open door policy after the enlargement in 2004.