A man tried to flush his waiter uniform down the toilet when Immigration Enforcement and Kingston police raided a popular restaurant in Surbiton today.

Officers turned up unannounced at Joy, in Brighton Road, after reports men were working in the restaurant illegally.

Two people in the restaurant were arrested for immigration offences and another man, who was in the Red Rose restaurant over the road, was caught allegedly trying to run away before being arrested for working in breach of immigration rules.

One of the locked himself in the bathroom and tried to flush his waiter uniform down the toilet when police stormed the premises.

Immigration Enforcement officers said the men arrested could not produce documentation proving they were in the country legally and had the right to work.

Surrey Comet:

A man is led away in handcuffs from Joy restaurant in Surbiton. Pictures: Rachael Burford

Surrey Comet:

 

An officer said: “They use photocopies of their passports, saying the original is with the Home Office, but if you look closely you can see that the numbers and dates have been changed.

“If I was an employer and not trained in spotting fake documentation I might be fooled by some of these things. It is simple but clever.

“We use a rapid ID scanner that quickly shows us exactly when someone came into the UK, the kind of visa they have and whether they have the right to still be here or be working.”

Surrey Comet:

One man allegedly tried to flush his uniform down the toilet. Picture: Rachael Burford

Seven people were in the restaurant at the time of the raid and as well as the arrests police took fingerprints from another man.

Sergeant Eddie Armstrong, from Kingston police, said: “We don’t like to see this sort of thing and we are working in partnership with immigration and other enforcement agencies to ensure that licensing breaches in the borough are acted upon swiftly.”