More Australians could work in the UK under a new visa that is being negotiated by the Australian and British governments.

Work is being done by both governments to establish a new work visa that counters European Union laws which have forced the UK to the slash the number of migrants it can take from outside of the EU.

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“It was an unintended consequence that restricts some including Australians but a compromise is being looked at from both the Australian and British ends,” a government source told News Corp Australia.

The policy change two years ago, which caps skilled workers outside of the EU allowed in the UK at 20,000, has led to more than a 50 per cent drop in the number of Australians going to Great Britain for work.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has raised the issue with London Mayor Boris Johnson, who labelled the current system as discriminating against Australians.

He is believed to be lobbying his Tory party counterparts, notably Prime Minister David Cameron, for a change to the visa system.

The British Government have flagged concerns that an exception for Australia would mean that exceptions would have to be made for other Commonwealth nations, but Australia is pleading for a separate migration category given its special relationship.