Three held in Liverpool restaurant immigration swoop

Three men were detained by immigration officers after a raid on a Liverpool city centre restaurant.

Officers from UK Border Agency (UKBA) entered Masala Wok on Ranelagh Street on Tuesday evening to question staff and check their visa documents.

Two men from Pakistan were arrested for a variety of immigration offences. Another man, from Iraq, was also found to have no legal right to work.

The restaurant has been issued with a warning and could be fined £30,000.

Officers entered the restaurant at about 1715 BST and quizzed eight employees.

Of those arrested, the two Pakistani men, aged 25 and 43, remain in detention pending their removal from the UK.

UKBA officials are now working to obtain documentation to remove the third man, who has been released on immigration bail.

The enforcement operation was part of a nationwide campaign to tackle illegal working, sham marriages, bogus colleges and organised immigration crime.