And the numbers are growing with disillusioned Brits seeking a better life behind the old Iron Curtain.

People in the UK are worried about the possibility of huge numbers of Bulgarians going to the UK now we're in the EU. But the number coming the other way is quite significant.

We're getting phone calls every day here at Quest Bulgaria about how to make a new life in Bulgaria. To make more cash they are looking at setting up a business. You can buy a house and land for about £50,000 and run the business from home. Less investment and more profit is what people are looking for and even a third of what you would make in the UK is more than enough to live like a king in Bulgaria.

Brits have set up in bed and breakfasts, antiques, holistic healing centres, an architectural salvage business and even sausage making. Bulgaria is not a mature market like France and Spain but there are endless opportunities as there were in Europe many years ago.

Investigating some of the British ex pats who are now living in Bulgaria there is a real mixed bag and some innovative business ideas.

In September, 2005, after 20 years in Brighton, Mike and Jerry Blake moved lock, stock and barrel to north east Bulgaria to open an ecological and birding field station with a guest house.

Mr Blake, 43, originally from Wallasey on the Wirral found the biodiversity in the region extraordinary so the location was perfect. The price of property, the warmth of the people and range of opportunities were the deciding factors for their move. Local businesses helped them out to get themselves set up and although the language barrier was something to overcome, they have managed to get everything done and fit in with the locals.

Mike now runs the Srebarna Birding Field Station monitoring and reporting to the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve while Jerry manages their guest house, Pelican Lake, and has even become a member of the local folk troupe.

Jo and David Waite from London, both 41, sold their three bedroomed home in Eltham for about £180,000 to fund a B&B. They moved with three of their four children to Kamenar on the southern Black Sea coast and spent €23,000 on their home and another €30,000 to add a pool and a cafe bar called Grapevine.

Neither misses their old jobs with the local council and social services. They feel that Bulgaria has offered them a much nicer way of life, with good weather and greater safety for their children. Although they miss their families they don't feel they miss anything else from the UK.

Another couple who took the plunge were Martin and Sam Billington from Leeds who relocated with their youngest child Nicholas, aged seven. They bought a large farmhouse with five bedrooms for £25,000 and spent the same again on doing it up and installing a pool.

Martin set up in the barn as a garage for car repairs. It was difficult at first but once word got round he found he had as much work as he needed. He reckons he makes about a third of what he was on in the UK and lives on 600 pounds per month quite happily.

Bill and Jane Watson from Bristol used to run a country pub but the high rents drove them out and they were forced to look elsewhere and Bulgaria was it. They met whils in the Royal Navy but got really fed up in Britain. So, moving to Bulgaria they have set up their own guest house. But the most unusual thing is that they have established their own business making home-made sausages (Bill was formerly a chef in the UK). They have created the facility from an old outbuilding and have made a production are which exceeds even EU norms. Bill believes they have made a good move, citing better quality of life as well as establishing a new business with the ready-made market of other Brits living in Bulgaria.