Firm fined £10k over illegal workers

A drinks firm in the Black Country has been fined £10,000 for employing illegal immigrants, the Express & Star can reveal today.

Officials from the UK Border Agency made the discovery during a raid on Big Time Soft Drinks in Wolverhampton earlier this year.

A 13-strong specialist team sealed off exits before searching the premises and checking identity documents.

Seven people from the Indian sub continent aged between 32 and 49 were held - one of whom had been paid £48,000.

They were discovered to be using false Belgian, French and Greek passports, or to have overstayed their welcome in the UK.

Some are feared to have been brought into the country by people smugglers.

One of those detained had earned £48,000 while working at the firm, based on the Culwell Trading Estate in Hobgate Road, Heath Town, and had paid income tax and National Insurance contributions on the salary.

One man was returned to India and two others - a man and woman - were jailed for using fake ID and are expected to be deported on completion of their prison sentences.

Penalty

Another woman is awaiting return to her home country while two more people are still going through the legal process, it emerged today. The seventh has been allowed to stay in this country because she is a dependant spouse.

Simon Ballinger, of the UK Border Agency, said: "Big Time Soft Drinks has been issued with a civil penalty of £10,000 for employing illegal workers.

"We are working hard to pull the plug on the illegal jobs which lure illegal immigrants to come to the UK.

"Employers who do not play by the rules will get struck off our register, lose the right to recruit staff from outside Europe and could end up in jail."

Legal advisers for the Big Time Soft Drinks, described on its website as a family firm and leading manufacturer of cup drinks throughout the UK, declined to comment.

By John Scott