A business in Nuneaton could be finding out the hard way just what risks are involved in employing an illegal worker.
The Benny's Chicken establishment on Church Street was visited by staff from the UK Border Agency (UKBA) in November, who discovered that not all of the staff on site had the correct UK work permits and visas to entitle them to undertake paid employment.
A 58-year-old Pakistani man was arrested on the site as a result of his UK immigration status and taken to the local police station. A fingerprint check revealed that he had been granted a visit visa only, which had since expired.
While the employee has since been transferred to an immigration detention centre to await deportation, the business that hired him in the first place is now facing investigations of its own.
If Benny's Chicken is unable to prove that it conducted the required checks on the man before hiring him, it could be hit with a fine of up to £10,000 for employing an illegal worker.
Paula Burton of the UKBA Warwickshire enforcement team, commented: "We will continue to crack down on companies that employ illegal workers and fail to carry out proper checks on passports and other identity documents.
"Any business that takes on a foreign national without permission to work is breaking the law and faces a heavy fine and possible prosecution."