A number of restaurants in the Dorset area are facing substantial fines for employing illegal workers.
Raids conducted by UK Border Agency (UKBA) officers discovered seven illegal workers from Bangladesh in the Blandford Forum area after raiding three restaurants.
At Simla on West Street officers discovered five men working illegally. Two of them had remained in the country following the expiration of their student visas, while a further two had entered the country illegally and the fifth was a failed asylum seeker.
Meanwhile, at the Bay Leaf restaurant, a 33-year-old Bangladeshi man was arrested after he was found to have entered the country illegally, and at Spice India, a 30-year-old man was discovered working after having overstayed his UK visa.
Spice India and Simla are now facing fines of up to £10,000 for each illegal worker. They will be required to prove that legal checks – such as checking passports and Home Office documents – were carried out before the men were employed if they wish to avoid the fines.
Bay Lead, however, will not face such a fine as it was able to prove that these checks were carried out.
Phil Reay of the UKBA commented: "As these raids make clear, we gather intelligence about people breaking immigration laws and take action to stop them."
He added that anyone with information about suspected illegal workers is encouraged to come forward and get in touch.