Reading Chronicle | News | Illegal workers uncovered in warehouse raid

Tuesday, 6th January, 2009

Published: Thursday, 2nd October, 2008 12:00

Illegal workers uncovered in warehouse raid

Comments (0)

Print Article

IMMIGRATION officers swooped on a Whitley newspaper warehouse and turned up six men working there illegally.

Officers from the UK Border Agency hit the Smiths News distribution depot in Acre Road, Whitley, at 3.30am on Tuesday.

A Ghanaian, South African and a Ugandan were held on suspicion of overstaying their visas and a Kenyan and another Ghanaian suspected of other immigration offences. They also arrested a failed asylum seeker working illegally.

All six are set to be deported, and the warehouse management could face fines of £10,000 for each illegal worker.

Gareth Redmond, the Border Agency’s area director, said after the raid: “The operation sends a clear message to businesses in Reading employing illegal workers. We will not tolerate it.

“If you are found to be breaking the law and are employing workers illegally, we will take action and you could face a substantial fine or even a prison sentence.”

Glenn Leech, Smiths News HR director, said: “We take this issue extremely seriously and have detailed checks for all our staff. We would like to emphasise that none of the individuals detained for questioning are employees of Smiths News.

“We would like to work more constructively with the immigration authorities and have requested a meeting as soon as possible.”