RESTAURANTS in Cumbria have been warned that more raids could be carried out to crack down on illegal immigrants working in the area.

The UK Border Agency said this week it believed there were still a number of catering establishments in the county which were employing illegal workers.

The warning came after agency officers and police raided four South Lakeland restaurants and said they discovered a total of 17 Bangladeshi men working illegally. All will now be deported.

The raids were carried out at the Emperor of India in Bowness, the Taj Mahal in Sedbergh, the Spice Merchant in Grange-over-Sands and Tagore restaurant in Ambleside.

The agency said all four were owned by the same Cumbrian man, who it declined to name. It said he had been served with a notice of potential liability and now faced possible civil fines of up to £10,000 per illegal worker.

The charge he could face is the same as that levelled against the Government’s top legal officer, Attorney General Baroness Scotland, who was recently fined £5,000 for employing a Tongan woman who had overstayed her working visa -–that of unwittingly employing an illegal immigrant.

The covering manager of the Bowness restaurant Ataur Rahman – who is not its owner – described how a large number of officers arrived in the evening while customers were dining.

Five men were taken away, though Mr Rahman said some of them were not working at the restaurant but sleeping there.

“When they came in they made us feel like criminals – like terrorists,” he said.

He said the diners left, some without paying, which cost the restaurant about £1,100 that night.

Mr Rahman said all four restaurants opened the next day. There were now only seven staff at the premises and he was finding it difficult to recruit workers.

Karen O’Brien, from the UKBA, said restaurants, cafes and takeaways ‘should be vigilant’ and double-check their employees’ documents ahead of further planned raids in Cumbria.

And her colleague, Inspector Guss Macdonald, said the agency was ‘aware of a number of establishments in Cumbria which we believe are still employing illegal workers’.

Mr Macdonald added the majority of illegal workers in Cumbria were employed as chefs or waiters.

“People come in on the back of lorries. Some fly into the country with false documents, which are then destroyed to avoid detection and a lot come in legitimately as visitors, then stay,” he said.

Representatives of UK Bangla-deshi restaurants argued this week that unfair jobs" target="_blank">employment rules and a shortage of trained curry chefs were encouraging illegal work practices.

Chairman of The Guild of Bangledeshi Restaurateurs, Enam Ali, told The Westmorland Gazette: “If immigration people at Heathrow and Dover have failed to spot a forged passports, what chance does a restaurateur have? If Baroness Scotland can make a mistake, then a restaurateur can make a mistake.”

Mr Ali added that it was hard for restaurateurs to tell whether someone was legally allowed to work because foreign visitors to this country could acquire British driving licences and health cards.

Meanwhile, president of the Bangladeshi Caterers Association Bajloor Rashid said raids like those carried out in South Lakeland were ‘heavy-handed’.

He added that a skills shortage meant restaurateurs looked overseas for chefs. “We have always been willing to recruit from within UK, but there is no facility here where trained curry-cooks could be produced,” he said.

Mr Ali said immigration reform had come too late, and that the new points system aimed at ensuring only English-speaking foreigners with required skills were let into the UK was unfair.

“A curry chef doesn’t need to be able to speak English. Fabio Capello, the England football manager, couldn’t speak a word of English but they let him in,” he said.

But UKBA regional director Eddy Montgomery stressed: “We will not tolerate illegal working in Cumbria or anywhere else. It undercuts British wages and exploits vulnerable workers.

“As long as there are illegal jobs, the UK will be an attractive place for illegal immigrants. That's why we have to put a stop to employers who don't play by the rules.”