THE DEATH of a 49-year-old Polish man in Montrose Street in Brechin last week sparked panic among some residents of the burgh.

A Pole has appeared in court on a petition alleging murder and remanded in custody.

The incident was, for many, a close reminder of the horrifying murder of Lithuanian Jolanta Bleidaite in the town last year.

The 35-year-old’s severed head and hands were found on Arbroath beach in April and when her two killers were caught and taken to court, a tale of staggering brutality and inhumanity emerged.

Lithuanians Vitas Plytnkas and Aleksandras Skirda tortured Jolanta until she told them the PIN for her bankcard before killing her by smothering her with a pillow

They then cut off her head and hands before using public transport to take her remains to Arbroath and dumping them in the sea.

Given the high profile coverage of cases such as these it is understandable that many people feel threatened by the thousands who turn up on their doorsteps each year, speaking a myriad of different languages.

But most are only in Scotland to work—and rather than being an invading force, migrant workers carry out a role that, although perhaps unnoticed, is vital to the Angus economy.

Soft fruit farms in particular rely on the hundreds of eastern Europeans who spend months picking strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and blueberries.

Foreign accents may be more commonplace in supermarkets or town centres, but most of this vast army of workers remains unseen.

Driving on the dual carriageway between Arbroath and Dundee, it is possible to glimpse people working in the fields.

But as they stay in dormitories on the farms where they work, they have limited contact with locals.

It means that those who do grab the attention are usually doing so for all the wrong reasons, while the diligent workers—who are only in Scotland to earn money they could not at home—remain unseen.

Their attitude to work, however, does not go unnoticed by the people who pay their wages.

Angus councillor David Lumgair runs farms with his brother and said that most east Europeans they have employed have been “very hard-working” and most are delighted to be in Scotland.

Petko Diner came to Scotland from Bulgaria for the first time last year, attracted by the chance to earn a wage “seven or eight times” higher than he could at home.

He lives and works with 500 others on a farm near Barry, working long, back-breaking hours many hundreds of miles from his home but, like most of his colleagues, has no complaints.

“I came over for six months last year—it’s a very good business for us,” said the 28-year-old.

“We have everything we need so we don’t have a lot of contact with the local people, but when we do they’re very kind.

“They’re probably the kindest people I’ve met—I’ve worked elsewhere and people are much more polite here. There is a very big difference.

“There is a nicer attitude. I like the country, the climate—it’s not as hot as Bulgaria is now—and I like the people.”

Elena Vaduva is 23, from Romania, and working her first summer here.

She arrived in Scotland in the middle of May and has spent two months berry-picking in the fields.

“The work is very hard but it is a nice experience,” she said.

“The Scottish are great and I like it here—although I don’t think I’ll be coming back next year.”

Although Elena might not be intending to return to Scotland, Petko is far more enamoured with his adopted home.

“Last year I was just enjoying myself more but now I am a little bit older and little bit cleverer than before,” he said.

“I’ve applied to the University of Dundee to study teaching and got accepted so will be studying there after the summer.

“It’s not something I had planned to do before.”

Away from the fields, eastern Europeans, who can work legally in the UK without a permit since their homelands joined the EU, have also made their mark on cities.

As well as providing labour in hotels and supermarkets, thriving communities have also sprung up around them and many shops selling imported goods from countries such as Poland and Russia now serve the growing market.