Immigration officers raided a St Albans based company and arrested three long serving members of staff.

Home Office Immigration Enforcement officers arrested two men and a woman at BMI Hospital Decontamination Ltd, in Handley Page Way, after acting on intelligence.

MBI Hospital Decontamination are national business who wash and sterilise medical instruments for private hospitals Checks on staff by the home officers revealed that three employers were residing and working in the UK on forged or otherwise illegal documentation.

A 46-year-old man from Nigeria and a 37-year-old woman from Kenya had overstayed their visas.

The Kenyan woman has been taken into immigration detention pending their removal from the UK.

The Nigerian man has made his own arrangements to leave the UK, but must report regularly to the Home Office until his return to Nigeria.

Another 44-year-old Nigerian man was found to have entered the UK illegally. He has also been taken to detention centre pending his removal from the UK.

Robert Tompkins, from Home Office Immigration Enforcement, said: "As this operation demonstrates, we are working hard to arrest and remove those who abuse the UK’s immigration system."

Anyone with information about suspected immigration abuse can contact https://www.gov.uk/report-immigration-crime or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.