RECORD numbers of health tourists are flying into Britain to have their babies delivered for free on the NHS, a Sun investigation has found.

At least 2,631 ineligible women gave birth on English maternity wards last year then failed to pay, leaving a bill of £10million.

Cases are up more than a fifth in the past 12 months, from 2,167.

Only 84 trusts that provide maternity services responded to our Freedom of Information request — around two in three. It means the real figure may be closer to 4,500 and NHS losses £16million.

Rules came into force in October requiring hospitals to charge overseas visitors upfront for non-urgent care. Staff must routinely ask patients where they have lived the past six months to identify who is entitled to free NHS treatment.

Ministers claim stricter checks are helping to detect more ineligible patients.

Health Minister James O’Shaughnessy told The Sun: “The NHS is a national, not an international, health service. Hospitals must make sure they charge people if they aren’t eligible for free care. They are getting better at identifying those people.” Ineligible patients cost the health service up to £2billion a year, according to Government estimates. The NHS has quadrupled the cash it has recovered from health tourists since 2012/13, from £89million to £358million last year.

Our investigation found the biggest single unpaid maternity bill in 2016/17 was at the Royal Berkshire NHS Trust, where a mum from Pakistan owes £46,000. In total, managers are trying to find 329 women for care costs totalling £317,000.