A cross-party committee of peers has warned against the creation of an EU-wide guard to police external borders.

Whilst the European Union committee rejects the idea of a formal multinational border operation it calls for greater cooperation between member states.

The European Commission has led calls for the creation of a powerful force to halt the flow of asylum seekers into the EU.

The expansion of the EU into Central and Eastern Europe has led to renewed fears of pressure on its borders.

The peers endorse the concept of pooling costs so that countries with the longest borders do not have to bear a disproportionate burden.

Baroness Harris of Richmond, who chaired the inquiry, said: "Protecting the EU's borders is an essential task, but that's best done by national border control authorities, not by a centrally controlled European Border Guard as proposed by the commission."

The committee opposes such a move on "constitutional, legal and practical grounds".

In its report the committee also calls on the government to consider applying the Schengen manual on checks at external borders - but does not recommend that Britain should join the Schengen agreement.

Powerful central structures to oversee and co-ordinate border control activities should be subject to parliamentary scrutiny, the peers also argue.