IMMIGRATION officials have arrested two men at different Southampton restaurants.

Officers arrested a Bangladeshi man at the Balti House Restaurant in High Street after discovering he was in the country illegally.

After checking his documents they found that he had overstayed his leave in the UK. It is not known whether he had been working at the restaurant.

Acting on intelligence, eight immigration officers wearing stab vests surrounded the restaurant sealing all exits to make sure no one escaped during the raid.

Immigration officials also visited the Yalda Persian Restaurant in Commercial Road where they found an Iranian man working illegally.

Civil penalties for business owners who fail to carry out the proper checks when employing migrant workers from outside Europe were introduced by the Government last year. They can be fined up to £10,000 per illegal worker.

Both raids were organised by the UK Border Agency, set up last year to protect the country’s borders, control migration, prevent border tax fraud, smuggling and immigration crime.