Poultry company faces fine after UK Border Agency raid

A Midlands poultry processing plant has been warned that it faces a heavy fine after being caught employing illegal immigrant workers.

Twenty officers from the UK Border Agency raided the PCS Food Group poultry processing plant in Bilston.

Three Indians and one Jamaican were found not to have the correct papers and were arrested. All four are now waiting to be deported.

The company has now been warned it could face a fine of up to £40,000. The UK Border Agency has the power to search premises and impose a penalty. An employer found to have knowingly taken on illegal migrant workers can face fines of up to £10,000 per illegal worker and could face a prison sentence.

A spokeswoman for the UKBA commented: “We are working hard to pull the plug on the illegal jobs which lure illegal immigrants to come to the UK in the first place.

“Illegal working is unfair on honest employers who recruit staff with the right to work in the UK and who pay them a proper salary.

“Employers who don’t play by the rules will get struck of our register, lose the right to recruit staff from outside Europe, face on the spot fines and could potentially end up in jail.”

There has been criticism of the heavy-handed approach taken by the agency in previous raids. A raid on Chesterfield Poultry in Clay Cross in July led to the company releasing a statement through its solicitors, expressing its anger over the raid.