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Two arrested after immigration raid on Pizza Hut in Corby
Two people have been arrested during an immigration raid on a pizza shop in Corby.
Six illegal immigrants were caught working at Pizza Huts in Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire by UK Border Agency officers last night.
Acting on intelligence, specialist teams swooped on Pizza Huts in Bedford, Corby and Northampton, sealing exits before questioning workers and checking their identity documents.
At the Pizza Hut at Unit 8, Charter Court, Butlands Road, Corby officers arrested two Indian males, aged 22 and 28.
The 28-year-old was found to be working in breach of his visa conditions and at first claimed to be Spanish. Officers continued to question him before finding a counterfeit Spanish passport in the boot of a car parked nearby.
The 22-year-old male was an illegal entrant to the UK. He was the delivery driver for the business but officers found out that he did not have a driving licence.
At the Pizza Hut in Bedford two Indian males, aged 25 and 27, were arrested after officers discovered that they were illegal entrants to the UK.
At the Pizza Hut, 40 Kingsley Park Terrace, Northampton a 27-year-old Indian male was arrested after officers confirmed that he had overstayed his visa.
They also found a Romanian man working there who, although an EU national, did not have the correct permission from the Home Office to take up employment. He now faces a fine of 1,000.
The UK Border Agency is now taking steps to remove all of the Indian illegal workers from the UK as soon as possible.
The franchise owners for all three Pizza Huts were given on-the-spot penalty notices for employing illegal workers and now face fines of up to 10,000 for each illegal worker employed.
To avoid a heavy fine, the owners must prove to the UK Border Agency that they carried out the correct right-to-work checks for employing workers from outside the EU.
Gail Adams, UK Border Agency regional director, said: "Employers should be warned. We are cracking down hard on those who seek to profit by abusing the immigration rules.
"Illegal working is unfair on honest employers who recruit staff with the right to work in the UK and who pay them a proper salary.
"Employers who don't play by the rules will get struck off our register, lose the right to recruit staff from outside Europe, face on the spot fines and could potentially end up in jail."
A tough new civil penalty system was brought in last year to provide a fast and effective way of tackling bosses who fail to carry out proper checks on workers from outside Europe. A fine of up to 10,000 per worker can be imposed for every illegal worker found at a business.
Guidance for employers on preventing illegal working can be found on the UK Border Agency website, www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/employingmigrants or by calling the UK Border Agency Employers Helpline on 0845 010 6677.
Anyone who suspects that illegal workers are being employed in Bedfordshire or Northamptonshire should contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 where anonymity can be assured.
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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