IMMIGRATION officers have arrested six men following a swoop on an Indian restaurant in York.

Home Office officials and North Yorkshire Police raided the Indian Lounge, in Swinegate, on Monday lunchtime.

The restaurant’s owners now face a fine of £60,000 if they cannot prove the correct checks were carried out on the status of the workers, all of whem were Bangladeshi.

However manager Rubel Choudry said they were not employed at the Indian Lounge, but were friends of staff at the restaurant and that he was still open for business.

He said: “We had a visit from the Borders Agency and they arrested four people, but they are not related to my restaurant at all – they were visiting people who worked for me and they were helping their friends cook some food. There are no illegal people working in my restaurant.”

Mr Choudry said the four men did not speak English and were taken to Harrogate Police Sation where there was a translator.

The Home Office said checks on the immigration status of four of the men aged 33, 34, 36 and 40 revealed they “had no right to work in the UK”. They were arrested and have all been detained pending their removal from the country.

Two other men who did not have the right to work in the UK were also arrested, but must now report to the Home Office.

Colin Flynn, from the Home Office’s Humberside and North Yorkshire Immigration Enforcement Team, said: “Illegal working has a serious impact on communities, undermining legitimate businesses and taking jobs from those who are genuinely allowed to work.

“We are happy to work with businesses to let them know what checks need to be done on staff.

“Those who choose to break the law should know that we are out there looking for them and they will face heavy fines.”