Three arrested following Border Agency raid at Burwell restaurant
A BORDER Agency raid on a restaurant in Burwell saw three Bangladeshi men arrested on suspicion of immigration offences.
Acting on intelligence, officers from the local immigration team for Cambridgeshire visited The Spice Cottage in North Street at 5:30pm on Wednesday.
Checks revealed that two men had overstayed their visas and were working without permission.
A third man, who was on the premises but not working, was also identified as an overstayer and arrested. All three were taken into UK Border Agency detention while work to remove them from the country is carried out.
Officers identified a fourth person, also from Bangladesh, who has permission to be in the UK, but was working in breach of his visa conditions. He was escorted from the premises.
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The Spice Cottage now faces a potential fine of up to �30,000 - �10,000 for each of the three illegal workers - unless it can prove that the correct pre-employment checks were carried out, such as seeing a passport or Home Office document.
UK Border Agency officer Heidi Young said: “We have teams across the country carrying out raids like this on a daily basis. Offenders should know that there is no hiding place and that where we find people who are in the UK illegally we will seek to remove them.
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“We are also looking to target the employers who take on illegal workers and who encourage illegal immigration in the process.
“We’re happy to work with businesses to let them know what checks need to be made on staff, but those who choose to break the law should know that they will face heavy fines.”
Every year, the UK Border Agency imposes civil penalties on hundreds of companies which fail to carry out legally-required checks on their staff.
The agency provides support to employers so they can understand the rules, including visits by staff, a dedicated telephone helpline and website.
Anyone who has information on suspected immigration offenders can visit http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/aboutus/contact/report-crime/.
