AN INDIAN restaurant in Winterbourne where illegal workers were arrested in an immigration raid is 'not being pursued'.

In an intelligence led operation, Immigration Enforcement officers visited the Royal Raj, on Winterbourne High Street, at on August 3.

Seven Bangladeshi men, aged between 30 and 61, were arrested for breaching immigration rules.

The restaurant then faced a potential £140,000 fine for having immigration offenders working on its premises.

Following the arrests, the restaurant’s owners had to prove that the necessary right-to-work checks had been carried out, for example, examining passports or requesting the appropriate Home Office documentation.

A spokesman for the South West Immigration Enforcement team said: “We are not pursuing the restaurant.”

The threat of a £140,000 fine, up to £20,000 per illegal worker, hanging over the restaurant since August, has now been lifted.

However, the spokesman did not confirm that the Royal Raj’s owners had been cleared of all wrongdoing.

Immigration checks found that three of the workers, aged 30, 38 and 61, had overstayed their visitor visas. The checks also revealed that a 30-year-old man had overstayed his student visa; a 31-year-old had overstayed when his leave to remain in the country had been curtailed; a 48-year-old had overstayed a domestic worker visa, and a 55-year-old worker had entered the country illegally.

A spokesman for the South West Immigration Enforcement team said: “One of the men left the country voluntarily on September 12, and the cases of the other men are being progressed.”

People with information about suspected immigration abuse can contact www.gov.uk/report-immigration-crime or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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