Five suspected illegal immigrants were arrested at a popular curry restaurant in Tamworth facing a £100,000 fine with officials also finding food hygiene issues.
Blue Water Restaurant could be facing a heavy fine after the five men were arrested by Immigration Enforcement officers on Thursday, 5 April around 6pm.
The Immigration officers carried out checks to ensure that staff had the right to live and work in the UK. Five Bangladeshi men aged between 18 and 36 were found to have overstayed their visas.
The restaurant was served a civil penalty referral notice warning that a penalty of up to £20,000 per illegal worker found will be forced unless the employer can show that appropriate right-to-work document checks were carried out, such as seeing a passport or Home Office document confirming permission to work.
Theresa Gregory, head of the East Midlands Immigration Enforcement team, said: “My officers carry out regular intelligence-led operations such as this to tackle abuse of the immigration rules. Where illegal workers are discovered, employers who have not carried out the correct ‘right to work’ checks face a heavy fine.
Andrew Barratt, Chief Operating Officer for Tamworth Borough Council added: “Tamworth Borough Council is always happy to carry out joint visits with other organisations such as Immigration Enforcement to ensure all aspects of legislation are looked at during these types of visits.”
Information to help employers carry out checks to prevent illegal working can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/employers-illegal-working-penalties.
This includes a quick answer right-to-work tool to help employers check if someone has the right to work in the UK.
People with information about suspected immigration abuse can contact https://www.gov.uk/report-immigration-crime or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
