A mobile communications system for communicating data to and/or from mobile communications devices, the mobile communications system comprising: one or more base stations, each of which includes a transmitter and a receiver operable to provide a wireless access interface for communicating data to and/or from the mobile communications devices, the wireless access interface providing on a downlink a host carrier, the host carrier comprising a predetermined number of m symbols in each of a plurality of sub-frames, providing a plurality of resource elements across a first frequency range for communicating data, and a first and second mobile communications devices, the first mobile communications device comprising a receiver of a first type, the receiver of the first type having a bandwidth for contemporaneously receiving data which is at least the bandwidth of the first frequency range, and the second mobile communications device comprising a receiver of a second type, the receiver of the second type having a bandwidth for contemporaneously receiving data which is less than or equal to the bandwidth of a second frequency range, wherein: the first mobile communications device is operable to receive downlink communications via the host carrier, the host carrier including a control region in each of the sub-frames comprising the first n symbols of the m symbols of the sub-frame, the wireless access interface provided by the one or more base stations is arranged to provide a virtual carrier, the virtual carrier providing one or more resource elements within the second frequency range which is within and smaller than the first frequency range and comprises m - n of the symbols of each of the sub-frames within the second frequency range, and the virtual carrier includes a virtual carrier control region allocated for the transmission of control data indicating which resource elements of the virtual carrier have been allocated to the second mobile communication device, the second mobile communications device is operable, upon detection of the virtual carrier, to receive downlink communications via the virtual carrier. one or more base stations, each of which includes a transmitter and a receiver operable to provide a wireless access interface for communicating data to and/or from the mobile communications devices, the wireless access interface providing on a downlink a host carrier, the host carrier comprising a predetermined number of m symbols in each of a plurality of sub-frames, providing a plurality of resource elements across a first frequency range for communicating data, and a first and second mobile communications devices, the first mobile communications device comprising a receiver of a first type, the receiver of the first type having a bandwidth for contemporaneously receiving data which is at least the bandwidth of the first frequency range, and the second mobile communications device comprising a receiver of a second type, the receiver of the second type having a bandwidth for contemporaneously receiving data which is less than or equal to the bandwidth of a second frequency range, wherein: the first mobile communications device is operable to receive downlink communications via the host carrier, the host carrier including a control region in each of the sub-frames comprising the first n symbols of the m symbols of the sub-frame, the wireless access interface provided by the one or more base stations is arranged to provide a virtual carrier, the virtual carrier providing one or more resource elements within the second frequency range which is within and smaller than the first frequency range and comprises m - n of the symbols of each of the sub-frames within the second frequency range, and the virtual carrier includes a virtual carrier control region allocated for the transmission of control data indicating which resource elements of the virtual carrier have been allocated to the second mobile communication device, the second mobile communications device is operable, upon detection of the virtual carrier, to receive downlink communications via the virtual carrier. the first mobile communications device is operable to receive downlink communications via the host carrier, the host carrier including a control region in each of the sub-frames comprising the first n symbols of the m symbols of the sub-frame, the wireless access interface provided by the one or more base stations is arranged to provide a virtual carrier, the virtual carrier providing one or more resource elements within the second frequency range which is within and smaller than the first frequency range and comprises m - n of the symbols of each of the sub-frames within the second frequency range, and the virtual carrier includes a virtual carrier control region allocated for the transmission of control data indicating which resource elements of the virtual carrier have been allocated to the second mobile communication device, the second mobile communications device is operable, upon detection of the virtual carrier, to receive downlink communications via the virtual carrier.