A Leighton Chinese restaurant was refusing to comment after the UK Border Agency found five illegal immigrants employed at its premises.

The Dragon Inn is facing a substantial fine after officers from the Local Immigration Team for Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire West visited the North Street business.

The raid, which took place on Friday, resulted in the discovery of the quintet of foreign nationals with no permission to be in the UK.

Inspector Robert Tompkins, who heads up the team, said: "Employers have a responsibility to ensure their staff are legally entitled to work in the UK before they take them on. If they ignore that duty the financial consequences are serious.

"Bedfordshire businesses that are breaking the rules should know we are out there looking for them, they will be caught and they will be fined."
The Dragon Inn could be fined up to £50,000, warned the immigration team, for employing a 46-year-old visa overstayer from Hong Kong who has already been removed from the UK.

Also found were four Chinese failed asylum seekers, a 37-year-old, a 39-year-old, a 36-year-old and a 47-year-old.

A spokesman for the immigration team said: "A tough new civil penalty system was introduced in 2008 to provide a fast and effective way of tackling bosses who fail to carry out proper checks on workers from outside Europe.

"A fine of up to £10,000 per worker can be imposed for every illegal worker found at a business."

Work is now under way to remove the other immigration offenders from the UK as soon as possible.

Guidance for employers on preventing illegal working can be found on the UK Border Agency website, www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/employingmigrants or by calling the UK Border Agency Employers Helpline on 0845 010 6677.

Anyone who suspects that illegal workers are being employed in Bedfordshire should contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 where anonymity can be assured.

The Citizen contacted The Dragon Inn twice yesterday but the manager did not return our calls.