Illegal workers at Mansfield factory are deported

Acting on intelligence, Home Office Immigration Enforcement officers visited Savanna Rags International, on Forest Road, on 19th March.

Officers arrested 27 men and three women, aged between 23 and 54, who were found to be in the UK illegally.

Of these, six people have now been removed from the UK - three Ghanaian men, one aged 28 and two 37-year-olds, a Nigerian man, aged 32; a woman from Niger aged 50 and a 33-year-old Indian man.

A further two people have been granted temporary leave to remain in the UK - a Ghanaian man, aged 33, and a 26-year-old Nigerian man.

Cases for the remaining 22 people are being progressed and they face removal if found to have no right to remain in the country.

At the time of the operation, Savanna Rags was served with a notice advising that they may be liable for a civil penalty of up to £10,000 per illegal worker arrested.

Investigations are continuing and the business could still have to pay this penalty unless proof is provided that the correct right-to-work checks were carried out.

Alison Spowage, assistant director for Immigration Enforcement in the East Midlands, said at the time: “This was a large scale operation targeting suspected illegal working in Nottinghamshire.

“Illegal working exploits some of society’s most vulnerable people. It also undercuts honest employers, cheats the treasury and takes jobs away from those with a legal right to work.”