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6:40am Friday 9th October 2009 in News
TEN workers were arrested when immigration officials raided a Bicester food factory.
The UK Border Agency and two police officers arrived at Just Prepared, in Bainton Close, off Charbridge Way, at 10.30am yesterday.
Documents for about 30 staff were inspected and those of anyone believed to be working illegally were checked against Home Office records.
Ten men, aged between 24 and 48, were arrested and taken to their homes – which were searched for travel documents, such as passports and visas.
The company, which produces salad and vegetable packs, was last night issued with a notice of potential liability, which means it could be fined up to £10,000 for each illegal worker.
Chief Immigration Officer Alex Legg said: “We’re planning a number of operations and have been working on this for a month, after receiving information.”
Immigration officers stressed that the firm had records for all its staff, although it said some may have used fake documents to get work. They said five of the men held had come from India, four from Sri Lanka and one from Pakistan.
Three are believed to have outstayed their visas, one was working in breach of a student visa and another was a failed asylum seeker. Five of the group were thought to have entered the country illegally.
Barry Spencer, owner of Just Prepared, declined to comment.
Officers had been watching the site ahead of the raid and applied to Bicester Magistrates’ Court for a warrant.
Mr Legg, said: “We have seen, in some instances, false documents used and in other instances the identification provided did not match what the Home Office had on record.”
Pc Ben Henley, of Thames Valley Police, said: “We were there to execute the warrant, to stop any breach of the peace and support officers from UK Borders.”
All 10 men were still in custody last night, while officials checked whether they were entitled to work in the UK.
If proper travel documents are found, some could be deported within 72 hours. If not, they may be sent to an immigration detention centre while further checks are carried out.
Comments(22)
Roger Casement
says...
7:47am Fri 9 Oct 09
phantom flan flinger
says...
8:15am Fri 9 Oct 09
HarryBo
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10:35am Fri 9 Oct 09
phantom flan flinger wrote:Hahaha, yes. I was just about to ask if the headline would have been the same if it had taken place at a fudge manufacturers :P
Thank god the Fudge factory didn't ger raided!
scotta
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11:32am Fri 9 Oct 09
DSullivan
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11:47am Fri 9 Oct 09
crazylover
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12:43pm Fri 9 Oct 09
bicesterlady
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2:02pm Fri 9 Oct 09
Oxonian1
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2:15pm Fri 9 Oct 09
Grundon Skipp
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9:33pm Fri 9 Oct 09
dreaminaspires
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10:56pm Fri 9 Oct 09
Scaramuccia
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12:08pm Mon 12 Oct 09
Scaramuccia
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12:09pm Mon 12 Oct 09
Scaramuccia
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12:09pm Mon 12 Oct 09
Scaramuccia
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12:10pm Mon 12 Oct 09
Abingdon_born_Cowley
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1:57pm Mon 12 Oct 09
X Large Doner w/Chili
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5:09am Tue 13 Oct 09
DSullivan
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7:01pm Tue 13 Oct 09
DSullivan
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7:04pm Tue 13 Oct 09
dreaminaspires wrote:Oh dear "dreaminaspires" You have very ppor standard of English! Nobody understands in the slightest what you are talking about! I assume that you must be one of the ten illegal workers then!!
scotta banbury Having a laugh lad the locals dont want jobs like this they get as much on the welfare. You one of them?? eh? No work no want??
J B Blackett
says...
2:29pm Thu 15 Oct 09
DSullivan wrote:I am genuinely sorry about pointing this out, DSullivan, but the text in your message contains at least 9 (Nine) grammatic and syntactic errors. And that's allowing for typos.
dreaminaspires wrote:Oh dear "dreaminaspires" You have very ppor standard of English! Nobody understands in the slightest what you are talking about! I assume that you must be one of the ten illegal workers then!!
scotta banbury Having a laugh lad the locals dont want jobs like this they get as much on the welfare. You one of them?? eh? No work no want??
You really need to enrol on a basic English course.
Your comments are not only therfore false but also to be classed as invalid!
Grundon Skipp
says...
6:24pm Thu 15 Oct 09
Abingdon_born_Cowley wrote:If only- anyone who watched the government funded (with £400,000 of our money) propaganda 'Borderforce' will be familiar with the 'severe letting off' meted out to illegal immigrants who are actually caught.
Grudon, I thought you would love this. Does this not contradict your beliefs that nothing is done. If these guys have been using fake documents etc they will be ejected immediately. Thats what the law says. It is good that UKBA has done a great job here. Lets not slag them off, they really can't win otherwise, you moan about illegal immigrants, then you complain about policy when they are caught? WTF!?
dreaminaspires
says...
8:55pm Thu 15 Oct 09
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Roger Casement says...
7:45am Fri 9 Oct 09
Following dear old "baroness" Scotland, of course. I did a post on this yesterday but it was taken off. These blokes will have been paying National Insurance Tax on false numbers for months. Nothing will have been done by HMRC. Now they will (invariably) get prison, for working. Anyone who suggests it is the function of UKBA to eject overstayers, detect and eject illegal entrants is clearly missing the point. Its function is to provide "employment" for a lot of people who could not hack it in the real world and furnish them with massive pensions and CBE's.