Suspected illegal workers have been arrested after raids at restaurants and take-aways - and their employers could face £10,000 fines or jail.

Immigration officials swooped on a number of restaurants and take-aways in the Towns last Thursday night as part of an on-going operation.

It is believed Cosmo Oriental restaurant in Chatham High Street and Raj Rani Indian take-away in Hoath Way, Wigmore were among premises targeted.

Five people were arrested on the night and detained by the Home Office.

A spokesman for the UK Border Agency at the Home Office said the managers of the Cosmo Oriental and Raj Rani were served Notification of Potential Liability (NOPL) for allegedly employing foreign nationals with no permission to work and could be fined.

The Illegal Working Civil Penalty Unit in Manchester decides the outcome of NOPL cases.

The spokesman added: “The UK Border Agency can confirm a series of operations was carried out on the evening of May 1.

“During the operations a total of five individuals were arrested by immigration officials and taken into detention.

“We will not tolerate illegal working. That’s why the UK Border Agency is investing more money in enforcement and forging ever closer links with the police.

“Last year we removed the equivalent of one person every eight minutes, and carried out 40 per cent more illegal working operations.”

“It is the legal duty of all employers to ensure that those they employ are entitled to work in the UK.

“We have just changed the law to punish negligent bosses who fail to carry out the right checks on their staff.

“They now face-on-the-spot fines of up to £10,000 per illegal worker, or jail, if we can prove they have deliberately flouted the rules.”

A spokesman for Cosmo

Oriental restaurant refused to comment while a spokesman for Raj Rani Indian take-away told the Medway Messenger one person had been arrested but later released.