UK Immigration officials have arrested and detained 35 employees from Byron Hamburger restaurants across London earlier this month, reports the Evening Standard.

Byron has been accused of setting a trap for its migrant workers as it is alleged that Byron had arranged for the staff to attend a fake training day and were instead interviewed and later arrested by immigration officials.  Customers of the restaurant chain have reacted angrily to these reports.

The CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) reports that the Home Office has confirmed it had arrested 35 Byron employees from Albania, Brazil, Nepal and Egypt, and dismissed reports that an event was set up to trap employees.

Byron has said it had carried out the right-to-work staff checks, but had been shown papers they suspected to be false and therefore breached immigration and employment regulations.

A statement from Byron said: “We can confirm that several of Byron's London restaurants were visited by representatives of the Home Office. These visits resulted in the removal of members of staff who are suspected by the Home Office of not having the right to work in the UK, and of possessing fraudulent personal and right-to-work documentation that is in breach of immigration and employment regulation.

“The Home Office recognises that Byron as an employer is fully compliant with immigration and asylum law in its employment practices, and that Byron had carried out the correct right-to-work checks on staff members, but had been shown false/counterfeit documentation.”

The raid predates amendments to the Immigration Act that came into force on 12 July, which has resulted in the penalty fine for illegal workers being doubled – from £10,000 to £20,000 – and the maximum prison sentence being increased from two to five years.

“The introduction of these steeper penalties means we can expect to see more Home Office crackdowns in the future,” Chris Brazier, an immigration lawyer at BP Collins, said. “This won’t be the last case we see. The Home Office wants to discourage employers from employing illegal workers.”