Restaurant with illegal workers loses alcohol licence

The business was fined £90,000 for employing two people who did not have the right to work in the UK

A restaurant fined £90,000 for employing illegal workers has had its alcohol licence revoked.

Immigration officers found the three workers at Exotic Karahi in Farnham Road, Slough, during a visit in September 2024.

They were identified as immigration offenders and reported receiving free food in exchange for their labour during an interview.

A Slough Borough Council meeting heard this could have amounted to "modern-day slavery".

Exotic Sweet Centre Limited, which trades as Exotic Karahi, received the civil penalty for employing two people who did not have the right to work in the UK in November.

The Home Office then requested a review of the business's premises licence in June, on the grounds its "prevention of crime and disorder" conditions had not been met - a view supported by Thames Valley Police, councillors heard.

The Home Office said the licence holder and management had "failed to conduct mandatory employment checks to prevent illegal working".

Caroline Laird, a Home Office immigration enforcement officer, said: "[The workers] were paid by way of food, which, obviously is also a way of going unnoticed and promoting working for nothing really, as they don't have any other means of gaining lawful employment in the UK."

Sub-chair of the committee, councillor Mohammed Nazir, asked: "In other words, they could have been constituted as slave labour?"

Ms Laird replied: "Yes, modern-day slavery."

'Learned lessons'

Restaurant owner, Inderpaul Roa, told councillors he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and recovering at the time of the raid.

He said: "I was literally paralysed and so I was in hospital. This sort of happened over night."

He said a manager was hired during this time, and oversaw hiring workers and overseeing their immigration status. The manager was fired following the case.

Surendra Panchal, the legal representative of Mr Rao and his son Deep Singh Rao, said: "We are not running away from the mistake that was caused at the premises.

"We have explained to you why those mistakes were happening, and we've learned a lesson from it."

The restaurant will still be able to sell food and soft drinks until 23:00 BST.