A Leighton Buzzard business is facing the prospect of a substantial fine after a week of illegal working operations in the county by the UK Border Agency.
Officers from the Local Immigration Team for Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire (West) visited six businesses in the last seven days (22 February to 1 March) and found five of them were employing a total of 12 foreign nationals with no permission to be in the UK.
On February 26 at the Dragon Inn Restaurant, North Street, Leighton Buzzard a 46-year-old visa overstayer from Hong Kong who has already been removed from the United Kingdom was found along with four Chinese failed asylum seekers, a 37-year-old, a 39-year-old, a 36-year-old and a 47-year-old. The potential fine for this is £50,000.
Inspector Robert Tompkins, who heads up the team, said: “Employers have a responsibility to ensure their staff are legally entitled to work in the UK before they take them on. If they ignore that duty the financial consequences are serious.
"A tough new civil penalty system was introduced in 2008 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."