Immigration enforcement officers made an unscheduled appearance at a mobile phone shop in Abergavenny town centre last Thursday and arrested two illegal workers.

Acting on intelligence, the officers visited Fone Revive in High Street at around 3pm where they found a man aged 28, and a woman, aged 31, both from India, who had overstayed their visit visas.

The pair have been transferred to immigration detention pending removal from the UK.

Fone Revive was served with a notice warning that a civil penalty of up to £20,000 per illegal worker could be imposed. The business will be liable to pay this penalty unless they can demonstrate that the correct pre-employment checks were carried out such as seeing a Home Office document confirming permission to work. This is potential total of £40,000.

An Immigration Enforcement spokesperson said, “We take reports of illegal working very seriously and carry out regular operations to tackle abuse of the system. Illegal working cheats the taxpayer, undercuts honest employers and means legitimate job seekers are denied employment opportunities. Employers who flout the rules face a heavy penalty.

“We rely on information from members of the public and I would urge people to report suspected illegal working to us.”

Anyone with information about suspected immigration abuse can report it at: gov.uk/report-immigration-crime or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Immigration Enforcement is an operational command of the Home Office responsible for enforcing immigration law.

Information to help employers carry out checks to prevent illegal working can be found at: gov.uk/government/collections/employers-illegal-working-penalties. It includes a quick answer right-to-work tool to help employers check if someone has the right to work in the UK.