Published: Friday, 12th June, 2009 12:44pm

Illegal immigrants snared at Peebles restaurant

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IMMIGRATION officials found three illegal workers after raiding an Indian restaurant and a takeaway in Peebles last week.

The Prince of India and Spices takeaway now face the prospect of fines up to £30,000 following Thursday"s raid.

Acting on intelligence, a team from the UK Border Agency, supported by officers from Lothian and Borders Police, swooped on both premises.

After checking the documents of all staff in the Prince of India, four Bangladeshi men who are in the country illegally were discovered, two of whom were found to be working illegally.

At Spices takeaway, one Bangladeshi man was discovered working illegally.

And a house in the Damdale area of the town was also visited during the operation.

The agency states that steps are now being taken to remove all of the men from the UK as quickly as possible.

The Prince of India was served with a Notice of Potential Liability for employing two illegal workers, with Spices also receiving the Notice for employing one illegal worker.

An agency spokesman said that if the employers are unable to provide evidence that legally required checks were carried out before giving the workers jobs, they will face a fine of up to £10,000 for each employee.

Phil Taylor, regional director for the UK Border Agency in Scotland and Northern Ireland, told the Peeblesshire News: 'We will not tolerate illegal working which threatens to damage our communities, and will act on intelligence to target those businesses which ignore the rules and remove those with no right to be in the UK.

'We work with employers so they understand the rules, but they have a responsibility to carry out the right checks before they employ migrant workers. If they don"t, they could end up potentially having to pay the kind of substantial fines this business is now facing.'