Two firms fined thousands over illegal workers

One firm was fined £320,000

Two firms with links to Herefordshire have been fined for employing illegal workers, the Home Office reveals in a new report.

Essex-based construction company OKE Development Ltd was fined £320,000 for illegal employment at the former MandM Direct building on Clinton Road, Leominster, according to the document.

The report states additionally that Care recruitment firm Lord's Care Hereford Ltd, of Rotherwas Industrial Estate, was fined £10,000, although it is unclear where the illegal workers were deployed.

The latest summary from Immigration Enforcement was published on 29 August but covers the first quarter of this year. Both firms have declined to comment.

OKE has since gone into liquidation, filings at Companies House show.

Immigration Enforcement explains that the addresses given in its reports are either that of the business where the enforcement visit took place, or in the absence of such a visit, the registered address of the liable party.

The report does not state the nationality of the workers in question.

This news was gathered by the BBC's Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.