Unemployed take on immigrants' jobs for Evan Davis documentary

Evan Davis is to front a "life swap"-style documentary on BBC1 in which 11 unemployed people take the jobs of immigrant workers in the Cambridgeshire town of Wisbech. The programme, called The Day The Immigrants Left, is being billed as a "fresh and engaging approach" to the issue of immigration and its impact on the UK economy. Participants will spend between one and three days in a range of jobs, including working at one of the UK's largest potato companies, an asparagus farm, a building site and an Indian restaurant. Wisbech, near Peterborough , was chosen by the programme's makers, the independent production company Leopard Films , because of the large number of immigrants who live in the area, many of them from central and eastern Europe. It has also suffered from a big rise in unemployment over the past year. "Of course immigration is a topic that arouses complex emotions and unwanted tensions," said Davis, the BBC's former economics editor and a presenter on BBC Radio 4's Today . "But that is why broadcasters should tackle it and not avoid it. This programme is an attempt to get beyond the abstract arguments one hears for or against immigration, and to illustrate why it occurs and what it means in human terms." The programme was filmed over a three-month period in the spring and summer of last year. Producers sought volunteers with a broad range of views to take part, and put them in jobs that were typically filled by the town's immigrant population. Davis will also look at how the town's public services are performing, including its schools. Leopard Films' executive producer, James Burstall, said: "The aim of the programme is to shed new light on the issues surrounding immigration in the UK today through a balanced and insightful film. As one of the most respected broadcasters in his field, Evan Davis is the ideal journalist to explore the sensitive topic of immigration." The Day The Immigrants Left will air at 9pm on Wednesday 24 February on BBC1. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email [email protected] or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. • If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".