Three immigration offenders have been arrested during an intelligence-based raid on a business in Gosfield.

At about 6pm yesterday officers visited Lakeview Indian restaurant in Church Road.

Staff were questioned to check whether they had the right to live and work in the UK.

Three men from Bangladesh were arrested, a 32-year-old who had overstayed his work visa, and two men aged 45 and 60 who had entered the UK illegally.

Two of the men were detained pending their removal from the UK and the 60-year-old was ordered to report regularly to Immigration Enforcement while his case is progressed.

Lakeview Indian Restaurant was served a notice warning that a civil penalty of up to £20,000 per illegal worker found could be imposed.

The business will be liable to pay this penalty unless they can demonstrate that the correct pre-employment checks were carried out such as seeing a passport or Home Office document confirming permission to work.

This is a potential total of up to £60,000.

James Denham from East of England Immigration Enforcement said: “Our officers are happy to work with businesses that play by the rules, but where employers are not carrying out the required 'right to work' checks they should expect a visit and potentially a heavy financial penalty.

"Illegal working is not victimless - it cheats the taxpayer, undercuts honest employers and means legitimate job seekers are denied employment opportunities.

“I would urge members of the public with detailed and specific information about suspected illegal working to report it to us.”

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

Immigration Enforcement is an operational command of the Home Office responsible for enforcing immigration law.

Information to help employers carry out checks to prevent illegal working can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/employers-illegal-working-penalties.

This includes a quick answer right-to-work tool to help employers check if someone has the right to work in the UK.