EIGHT members of staff at a Chinese takeaway in Worcester have been arrested for working illegally after a raid by immigration officers.

The swoop could cost the owners of China City, Sidbury, up to £80,000 if investigations reveal they did not carry out the necessary checks before employing the workers.

A spokesman for the UK Border Agency said officers acting on local intelligence visited the takeaway at around 6.30pm on Tuesday evening.

A number of customers were in the restaurant when officers arrived.

Exits were sealed as staff were questioned. Tuesday evenings are particularly busy as all food has 40 per cent off, but customers who had already placed orders were told their food would not be cooked and they were asked to leave while staff were quizzed.

After checking the workers’ immigration status, seven men and one women, all Chinese nationals, were identified as working illegally.

Two men were taken to an immigration detention centre pending deportation to China.

The other six illegal workers were temporarily released on immigration bail while action is taken to deport them from the UK.

Owners of the takeaway were issued with on-the-spot fines of up to £10,000 for each worker.

If it can’t be proved all the necessary checks were carried out, then the maximum fine will be imposed.

This is the second time immigration officials have raided the popular takeaway.

In March last year, two illegal workers were discovered and the owners received a fine for each one.

Paula Burton, from the UK Border Agency’s West Mercia local immigration team, said: “Any business that takes on a foreign national without permission to work should be aware that it is breaking the law as well as undermining law-abiding employers.

“Rogue businesses should be warned that they face heavy fines and their owners could end up in jail.

“We will continue to crack down on companies that employ illegal workers and fail to carry out proper checks on passports and other identity documents.

“We would urge the public to get in touch with us if they have information about suspected immigration abuse.”

No one from China City was available for comment.