Immigration officials have arrested three men from Bangladesh following an operation at an Indian restaurant in Sudbury.

Acting on intelligence, the Home Office Immigration enforcement officers swooped on Ballingdon Valley Indian Cuisine in Ballingdon Street at about 6.10pm on Thursday.

Staff were questioned to establish whether they had the right to live and work in the UK and three arrests were made.

Two men, aged 28 and 52, had overstayed their visas while the third, aged 36, was found to have entered the country illegally.

All three men were transferred to immigration detention pending their removal from the UK.

The restaurant also faced an immigration raid in 2011 when five members of staff, including one who was found hiding in a cupboard, were found to be from Bangladesh and working illegally.

Restaurant owner Alam Topon, who did not own Ballingdon Valley at the time of the incident in 2011, said he had checked the paperwork of the three men and was unaware they had committed immigration offences.

He added: “One person wasn’t actually working. I just let him stay here. I was just helping him. He showed me his papers. He was just supposed to stay for two weeks.”

Immigration officers served the restaurant with a notice warning that a financial penalty of up to £20,000 per illegal worker arrested will be imposed unless the employer can demonstrate that appropriate right to work document checks were carried out, such as seeing a passport or Home Office document. If proof is not provided, this is a potential total of up to £60,000.

Cheryl Daldry, from the East of England Home Office Immigration Enforcement Team, said: “These arrests are a clear warning to those in Suffolk abusing our immigration laws. There will be no slowdown in our efforts to arrest, detain and remove you from the UK.

“Employers who use illegal labour are defrauding the taxpayer, undercutting genuine employers and denying legitimate job hunters work.

“Information from the public can be a huge help in our work and I would urge members of the public with information about suspected immigration abuse to get in touch.”

Anyone with information about suspected immigration abuse can contact https://www.gov.uk/report-immigration-crime or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Information to help employers carry out checks to prevent illegal working can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/employers-illegal-working-penalties.