Four arrested in Hatfield Heath restaurant immigration bust

Four Bangladeshi men were arrested by immigration officers at an Indian restaurant in Hatfield Heath last week.

Acting on intelligence, Immigration Enforcement officers made the arrests at the Rongia Tandoori restaurant, in The Heath, at around 6pm on Friday (February 12).

Two of the men, aged 33 and 36, had overstayed their visit visas, while the other two, a 28-year-old and a 31-year-old, were arrested for entering the UK illegally.

Three of the men were detained pending their removal from the UK, and the 31-year-old man was ordered to report regularly to Immigration Enforcement while his case is progressed.

The restaurant was served a notice warning that a civil penalty of up to £20,000 per illegal worker found will be imposed unless they can demonstrate that appropriate right to work checks were carried out.

These include seeing a passport or a Home Office document confirming permission to work.

Rob Gambrill, from east of England Immigration Enforcement, said: “Employers should be aware they need to carry out simple ‘right to work’ checks on potential staff and keep records of these checks.

“Our teams carry out regular illegal working operations like this and if employers have up to date staff records then any disruption is kept to a minimum.

“Businesses that have not carried out the correct checks should expect to face financial penalties. Employers who use illegal labour are cheating the taxpayer, undercutting genuine employers and denying legitimate job hunters work.

“Detailed and specific intelligence about suspected immigration offences helps us do our job as effectively as possible and I would urge anyone with information about illegal working to get in touch.”