KEY POINTS:
Anne Darwin may be the one who hit the headlines, but Britons are emigrating in droves.
Darwin, 55, who returned last weekend from Panama to face charges of deception linked to her husband's "return from the dead" five years after a canoeing accident, was one of a record number who are leaving.
All have different motivations - and there is no suggestion of criminality for most - but while stories about immigrants pouring into Britain feature daily across the pages of newspapers, less attention is paid to the number who quit.
The latest official migration figures showed that while 591,000 people arrived in Britain last year, a record 207,000 Britons left for sunnier climes.
High levels of crime, dreary weather, bad transport and expensive accommodation helped drive Christopher Khalil to Sydney, Australia, said the 33-year old from Rhyl, a seaside town in north Wales.
Australia is the number one destination of choice.
"It's a new world out here - the sun shines every day, the beaches are beautiful, it's cheaper to live, salaries are approaching UK ones and you can live an amazing outdoor lifestyle," Khalil, who now works for an Australian digital media company, said.
One-third of last year's emigrants headed to Australia and New Zealand, a quarter went to Spain and France and just under one in 10 to the United States. Only about 1000 British passport-holders live in Panama, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research.
Anne Darwin's husband John "was forever looking at new things and new places on the internet and one day he just came up with Panama", she said.
"Increasing pressure at work and demands on time, coupled with an increased focus on the importance of leisure time, mean that more people are probably considering various quality-of-life issues than they used to - such as climate, cost of living, value for money, transport facilities and recreation," said Neil Prothero, UK analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
This follows an EIU survey which placed Britain in 29th place in a "quality of life" survey, bottom among the 15 countries of the pre-enlargement European Union. Australia, Spain and NZ ranked respectively 6th, 10th and 15th.
"Brits leave the UK to escape, because they want to enjoy a happy, carefree life again," said Anne Butt, a nurse who moved to New Zealand.
"For young families, the chance to raise a family in a safe, out-of-doors, sporty country, where your income allows you a more enjoyable standard of living is very attractive," she added.
The old settler colonies of Australia and New Zealand promise a warmer climate, open landscapes and relaxed lifestyle - without requiring new arrivals to learn a foreign language.
In addition, a shortage of skilled labour and ageing populations have prompted both countries to recruit abroad.
"I know as many Brits as Kiwis," said Butt. "As a skilled migrant - a nurse - New Zealand immigration are very welcoming to applications for residency, so it's not really a surprise that I work with so many Brits."
But the dream of escape does not always work out, and many Britons eventually return.
"Many find out sooner or later that the climate's definitely better but the life isn't necessarily more relaxed, especially when the language barrier takes its toll," said Lucy Brown, of Spanish-living.com, a website aimed at English-speaking expats.
In Anne Darwin's case, it was having a living husband after all - who was missing his sons - that put paid to the dream of a new life.
KEY FACTS
* In 2006, Britain recorded the highest number of immigrants and emigrants since comparable records began in 1991.
* A record 591,000 people arrived to live in Britain in 2006, slightly more than the previous high of 586,000 in 2004.
* A record 400,000 people left Britain in 2006. Of these, just over half (207,000) were Britons - the highest number since records began.
* The British diaspora is one of the largest in the world, according to several think-tanks. The Institute for Public Policy Research estimates that only the Indian and Chinese diasporas rival Britons living abroad in terms of absolute size and geographical spread.
- Reuters
