Labour’s asylum backlog has topped 90,000 cases for the first time.

New data showed a huge increase in the number of appeals waiting to be heard by immigration judges.

The total hit 90,341 at the end of June, up 51 per cent from the 59,925 a year earlier, Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures showed.

It means Labour has simply moved the asylum backlog from the Home Office to the courts.

After the General Election ministers moved to clear cases that had been mounting up at an earlier point in the system.

But asylum seekers whose claims are rejected by the Home Office apply to the tribunal in a bid to have the initial decision overturned.

The MoJ’s data document confirmed the latest increase was ‘due to the Home Office’s work to tackle the backlog of legacy asylum claims’.

Earlier this year the Commons’ Public Accounts Committee said the Government’s asylum reforms had led to ‘repeatedly shifting backlogs rather than reducing them’.

An immigration court building, Field House, in central London

However, the figures suggested the immigration courts backlog may be reaching its peak, as the number of new asylum cases entering the queue in the three months to June dipped 20 per cent year-on-year to about 11,500.

The number of cases dealt with by the lower immigration tribunal rose by 43 per cent to just over 8,700.

Overall, the immigration courts have a backlog of 155,798 cases, comprising asylum appeals plus other categories such as human rights and European Economic Area free movement appeals.

It represented a 47 per cent leap year-on-year.

Immigration appeals take an average of 65 weeks to clear across all types of case, the figures showed,

Within that total it takes an average of 105 weeks – just over two years – to deal with appeals against deportation and deprivation of citizenship.

Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy said the immigration backlog had ‘more than doubled on Labour’s watch’

‘The courts have become a holding pen for immigration, with an industry that has sprung up to hamper removals,’ he said.

‘Sadly, Labour will never tackle the lawfare holding this country back.

‘The Conservatives would scrap the immigration tribunal and restore control over our border to elected ministers.

‘We also need to look more widely at how courts act as a block on the functioning of government.’

The Home Office was approached for comment.