20101112
africanews

Four people including two West Africans have been arrested in the United Kingdom for immigration offences, UK Border Agency official said. The arrest follows a raid by officers targeting contract cleaners working illegally at Hamleys toy store on Regent Street in central London.

The four cleaners including two Brazilian males, a Nigerian man and a Ghanaian woman are believed to be working with Crystal Cleaning Services, a contracting firm.

They were arrested around 07:30 on Wednesday at the store when British Border Officials acting on intelligence, executed a warrant to examine staff records and check cleaning staff had the right to work in the UK.

Their employer could now face a fine of up to £10,000 per illegal worker, unless it can prove that it carried out the correct right-to-work checks on their staff.

Tony Moore, assistant director, UK Border Agency said “this is the latest operation we've carried out to tackle immigration crime in central London, and more are planned in the coming weeks and months. Where we find people who are in the UK illegally we will seek to remove them.”

Adding, “Illegal working has a serious impact on communities, taking jobs from those who are genuinely allowed to work. It is the legal responsibility of all employers to check that employees have the right to work in the UK. Businesses which operate outside the law should be warned that they will be found and they will be punished.”

Every year, the UK Border Agency imposes civil penalties on thousands of companies which fail to carry out the necessary right-to-work checks on their staff.