Three illegal workers have been arrested by Home Office Immigration Enforcement officers following an operation at a business in St Albans.

Immigration officers visited Devdas in St Peter’s Street on September 17. Checks revealed that three members of staff were immigration offenders from Bangladesh.

One, aged 30, attempted to leave the restaurant by the back door as officers entered at 6.40pm, but was stopped by an officer covering the rear of the building. Checks subsequently revealed the man was working in breach of his visa.

A 19-year-old man was also found to be working in breach of his visa and a 56-year-old man was found to have entered the UK illegally.

The men aged 30 and 19 have been detained and the 56-year-old has been released on immigration bail while work to remove them from the UK is undertaken.

 The business now faces a potential penalty of as much as £60,000 - £20,000 for each of the illegal workers. 

To avoid a civil penalty the owners must demonstrate that appropriate pre-employment checks were carried out, such as seeing a passport or Home Office document.

Lorna Brown, from Home Office Immigration Enforcement, said: "Operations like these are carried out across the UK every day as our work to arrest, detain and remove immigration offenders from the UK continues.

"Employers who use illegal labour are cheating the taxpayer, undercutting genuine employers and denying legitimate job hunters work. Those who wilfully flout the rules will face heavy financial penalties.

"I would urge anyone with detailed and specific information about suspected immigration abuse to get in touch."

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