The Home Office is using £400,000 of taxpayers' money to help pay for a fly-on-the-wall TV series promoting the work of immigration staff.

The cash will be spent on Sky's eight-part show Border Force, which focuses on the UK Border Agency and its war on illegal immigrants.

Opposition MPs last night lambasted the decision to dip into public funds to fund the series, saying it was nothing short of propaganda.

They accused the Government of misusing Home Office cash which would be better spent employing more border patrol staff.

Most viewers will not even be able to watch the programme as it will be shown on the subscriber channel Sky One rather than terrestrial TV.

The Government has signed a socalled "advertiser-funded" deal with Sky, which will see it meet the costs of developing and making the programme.

In return for its £400,000, the Government will receive valuable exposure for the work it is doing in policing Britain's borders.

The programme makers will have exclusive access to the UK Border Agency, which was pilloried as soon as it was unveiled earlier this year.

Because of a budget shortfall, it was unable to search for illegal immigrants at weekends. And the 25,000-strong force, made up of ex-Customs, immigration and UK visa staff, was not even given its own uniform as officials wrangled over the design.