29 illegal workers found in Leicester factory

16 Aug 2014 | Posted by Carl Thomas

The Home Office immigration teams have found 29 illegal workers at a factory in Leicester, the Leicester Mercury has reported.

The raid at YSM Fashionwear in Layton Road Leicester took place at 10am on Thursday (August 14th) and uncovered the group of Indian nationals who had no right to be working in Britain. The group of 16 men and 13 women were all aged between 21 and 54 and were breaking immigration laws in various ways.

Twenty were found to have overstayed their UK visas, two had entered the country illegally and five were working in breach of their UK visa conditions. Officers transferred nine of the individuals to an immigration detention centre, while 18 are been ordered to report to the Home Office on a regular basis while their cases are being processed.

Alison Spowage, assistant director and head of the East Midlands Home Office Immigration Enforcement Team, told the paper: “Some businesses may feel that hiring illegal workers is harmless but they are wrong.

“Although we are happy to assist businesses ad advise them on what checks need to be carried out o staff, employers who flout the rules will be punished ad could face a heavy penalty.”