A RESTAURANT remains open despite a raid by immigration officers which led to six employees facing deportation.

Immigration Enforcement officers swooped on the Royal Raj in Winterbourne High Street at 6pm last Thursday, August 3. In an intelligence led operation, seven Bangladeshi men, aged between 30 and 61, were arrested on suspicion of breaching immigration rules. Six of the men now face being deported from the UK, the Home Office said. On top of this, the Indian restaurant now faces a potential £140,000 fine for having immigration offenders working on its premises. The onus is now on the business to prove that appropriate right-to-work document checks were carried out, such as seeing a passport or Home Office document confirming permission to work. However, the Royal Raj is open as usual and a waiter there, Mr Shan, yesterday denied that seven employees were detained. He said one of the waiters was taken to the police station in Patchway but was released two hours later, and that two Indian men who had been working at another local restaurant and were living in the flat above the Royal Raj were also detained. Mr Shan said the restaurant was open for business as usual. A Home Office spokeswoman denied Mr Shan’s account of events. After the raid, Adam Duffin, of the South West Immigration Enforcement team, said: “We are happy to work with businesses to explain the simple pre-employment checks needed to establish a person’s right to work in the UK, but to those who choose to ignore the rules the message is clear – we will find you and you will face a heavy financial penalty.

“Illegal working is not victimless – it undercuts honest employers, cheats legitimate job seekers out of employment opportunities and defrauds the public purse.

“I urge anyone with specific and detailed information about suspected immigration abuse to get in touch.”

One of the seven detained men, aged 31, who had his leave to remain in the country curtailed, has been released while his case is progressed. He will have to report to Immigration Enforcement on a regular basis. An Immigration Enforcement spokesman said 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 man had entered the country illegally, the spokesman added. People with information about suspected immigration abuse can contact gov.uk/report-immigration-crime or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. While information to help employers carry out checks to prevent illegal working can be found at gov.uk/government/collections/employers-illegal-working-penalties