Arrests after immigration raid at recycling depot

Home Office officials detained eight people during an operation in Somerset

Eight people have been arrested following an immigration raid at a recycling depot.

The raid at the unnamed site in Somerset was carried out by about 10 officers acting on intelligence earlier.

Six people were arrested at the depot while a further two arrests were made at the linked raid of a house.

The majority of those arrested are thought to have entered the UK legally before allegedly working without the right to do so. One is alleged to have worked while underage and all are alleged to have been working for less than the minimum wage.

The agency supplying staff to the recycling depot could face fines up to £45,000 per worker if it is found to have employed them illegally.

"Enforcement visits like this show there is no hiding place from the law," said minister for border security and asylum Alex Norris.

"From city centres to rural countryside, we are working across the UK to disrupt illegal working in all its forms."

Murad Mohammed, head of West of England Immigration Enforcement, says some of the illegal workers will have overstayed their time limit

Officers said they found passports for all those detained at the recycling depots during the house raid.

Murad Mohammed, head of West of England Immigration Enforcement, said locating the passports will facilitate the "immediate removal" of any illegal workers "back to their home country".

"Some individuals will have overstayed the time limit for which they're allowed to be in the UK - so they're overstayers," Mr Mohammed said.

"Other individuals will be allowed to be in the UK but not to work"

According to the Home Office, the number of arrests relating to illegal working has doubled in the West of England and Wales in the past year.

Between 5 July 2024 and 28 June 2025, enforcement officers carried out 1,687 visits to suspected illegal working sites in the region - up from 854 in the previous year. Arrests in the region more than doubled over the same period.

Nationwide, there were 10,031 enforcement visits nationwide in the 12 months up to July 2025, leading to 7,130 arrests - a 51% increase on the year before, according to Home Office figures.

Mr Norris said: "We have increased illegal working operations and arrests by 50% and will continue action against this criminality to catch rogue employers and ensure our immigration rules are respected."