IMMIGRATION officers from the Home Office detained two car wash workers in Ebley Road, Stonehouse yesterday morning.

The officers, who were accompanied by local police, arrested two Albanian nationals on suspicion of immigration offences at The Special Hand Car Wash, Ebley Road, Stonehouse at around 11.30am.

Officers were acting on information they had received and the two men aged 23 and 35 were arrested after checks showed they had entered the UK illegally. 

Adam Duffin from Immigration Enforcement South West said: “My teams of officers specialise in identifying immigration offenders and illegal working, and regularly carry out operations such as this.

“Illegal working is not victimless, it undercuts honest employers, cheats legitimate job seekers out of employment opportunities and defrauds the public purse.

“Members of the public can help us by reporting specific and detailed information about suspected immigration abuse.”

The operation, which was supported by Stroud police, led to the two men being detained pending potential removal from the country.

A spokesperson for Special Hand Car Wash has provided the SNJ with the following statement regarding the incident: "We would like to say to all of our custumers that the immigration police did raid the car wash yesterday and caught two people illegally working.  

"We know that they made a mistake by not letting us know, but they only started working for us a week ago. 

"All the people in the world are human, and nobody is illegal," the statement concluded.

Any business found to be employing staff with no right to work in the UK may be liable for a civil penalty of up to £20,000 per illegal worker. 

The employer will be liable unless they can demonstrate that appropriate right-to-work document checks were carried out, such as seeing a passport or Home Office document confirming permission to work.

The investigation into the business where the men were arrested is still ongoing.