Raids targeting illegal workers in Croydon are set to continue into the New Year, according to officers at the UK Border Agency.

During 2010 at least eight businesses in the town were given civil penalties for employing illegal workers, with fines totalling more than £57,000.

Among those hit were a grocers on London Road which was fined £20,000 after four people were found to be working there illegally, a nail bar on Thornton Heath High Street fined £5,000, and a restaurant in West Croydon also given a £5,000 penalty.

UK Border Agency officers are warning lawbreakers that more operations are planned in 2011.

UK Border Agency London Area Director Sharon Flannery said: “We’ve had a lot of success targeting firms who employ illegal workers in south London during 2010, but we are gathering intelligence all the time, and more raids are definitely planned for 2011.

“It is the legal responsibility of all employers to check that employees have the right to work in the UK. Those who don’t can be hit with big fines – up to £10,000 per person - but if you deliberately employ an illegal worker you could face criminal prosecution.

”Illegal working undercuts legitimate and law-abiding businesses, and takes jobs from those who are genuinely allowed to work.”

Every year, the UK Border Agency imposes civil penalties on thousands of companies which fail to carry out the necessary right-to-work checks on their staff.

Employers unsure of the steps they need to take to avoid employing illegal workers can visit www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/employers or they can call the UK Border Agency’s Employers Helpline on 0300 123 4699.

Immigration Minister Damian Green said: “The UK Border Agency has undertaken two major enforcement campaigns to crack down on immigration crime in London, detaining, prosecuting and removing people and gangs who have been abusing the system through sham marriages, illegal working, people smuggling and document fraud. We are making more use of new technology both at the border and inland to enable officers to focus their efforts on people trying to cheat the system.

“Our proposals to tackle abuse by foreign nationals using student visas to gain work in the UK alongside new plans to toughen up marriage and family routes will, together with the changes already put in place this year, ensure that we bring net migration down to the tens of thousands.”

Anyone who suspects that illegal workers are being employed at a business can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 anonymously or visit www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/report-immigration-crime.