A restaurant in Surrey is at risk of being hit with a fine of up to £50,000 for employing illegal workers.
The Red Rose on Bellfields Road in in Guildford was subjected to a raid from UK Border Agency (UKBA) officers on November 28th and staff were all checked to establish whether or not they had the right to work in Britain.
Five individuals were all found to have problems with their UK immigration statuses. This leaves the restaurant with the risk of a fine of up to £50,000 - £10,000 for each worker. To avoid the expenses the Red Rose needs to prove that it conducted the legally-required right-to-work checks before hiring the individuals.
The arrests included three Bangladeshi nationals who overstayed their UK visas, and a fourth Bangladeshi man was arrested for entering the country illegally. A fifth, also from Bangladesh, was found to have no legal right to be working in the country.
The first four were detained pending their removal from the country, while the fifth was found to have an outstanding immigration application with the UKBA and was escorted from the premises. If his application is unsuccessful he will be up for removal from the country along with the other employees.
Paul Smith, assistant director with the UKBA, commented on the case: "Our enforcement teams are out almost every day carrying out operations like this and where we find someone who is in the UK illegally we will seek to remove them.
"But we are also targeting employers who take on illegal workers. They are both fuelling illegal immigration and damaging the majority of legitimate businesses who play by the rules. This is why we have the power to hit those who break the law with heavy fines."