More than 90 per cent of asylum seekers registering at Croydon’s Lunar House are given the same date of birth, figures reveal.

UK Borders Agency figures obtained under the Freedom of Information act showed in 2008, 24,437 visitors to its headquarters on Wellesley Road were given the date of birth as January 1.

In 2007, of the 23,430 people applying for asylum in Britain, 21,652 – 90 per cent – were also given the January 1 birth date.

According to the Home Office, those given the new identical date of birth did not have valid identification which proved their age or were unable to recall when they were born.

The asylum seekers, predominantly Afghan, Iranian, Chinese, Iraqi and Eritrean nationals, either come into the country illegally and seek the right to stay from within or are caught attempting to smuggle themselves through ports.

A police source said: “A lot of the time we pick up guys who are obviously older than their identification says they are.

“They are men with stubble but according to their new British passports they are only 16 or 17-years-old.

"They commit crimes but are only ever convicted as minors, then because they are considered children they can’t be deported. It makes a mockery of the system.”

Of the the 23,430 people that applied during 2007, an estimated 6,540 resulted in grants of asylum, humanitarian protection or discretionary leave.

Tory MP and Shadow Secretary, Chris Grayling demanded that the UK Border Agency (UKBA) find out more about the people that it lets into the country.

Mr Grayling said: “This is an extraordinary situation, and underlines the fact that we have very little information about the people who are being allowed into the country. It beggars belief that the Border Agency is doing so little to find out more about asylum applicants.”