by Simon Tulett

Traders in Gravesend and Dartford have been slapped with fines totalling more than £50,000 for employing illegal migrant workers.

Seven businesses in north Kent, who between them had 11 illegal workers on their books, have had to pay £55,000 following raids by UK Border Agency () officers.

The restaurants or take-aways, were caught out between July and September this year, according to the latest list from the agency.

Businesses who flout UK immigration laws can face fines of up to £10,000 per worker and, if done knowingly, could result in jail terms of up to two years.

Indian restaurant The Gandhi, in West Street, Gravesend, was hit with a £10,000 penalty for employing two illegal migrants.

The same penalty was imposed on three Dartford businesses - All Day Cafe, in High Street, Dartford, which is now under new ownership, Dartford First Noodle, in Copperfields, and Britannia Grill, in Dartford Road. Combo Kebabs, in High Street, Swanscombe, was slapped with a £5,000 fine for employing one illegal migrant worker.

West Hill Grill and Fish Bar, in West Hill, Dartford, was hit with a £5,000 fine after the found one illegal worker there.

Unfair

The owner of the eatery, then known as Fresh Fried Fish and Chips, said the man identified as a worker was a family member living in a flat above the shop.

He said: "They don't want to listen. They just come in and even if someone is just living upstairs they arrest them.

"It's not fair, but what can you do? If you don't pay the fine they double it."

Milestone Kebab, in London Road, Stone, is also £5,000 worse off after officers removed one worker.

But its owner said the man, who was living in an extension behind the shop, was nothing to do with the business.

Figures for the previous three-month period, from April to June, show six businesses in north Kent, who were caught employing eight illegal workers between them, were fined £40,000.

Two more eateries, one in New Ash Green and one in West Kingsdown, were fined in the same period, having each employed one illegal migrant.

Safeguard

The UKBA said its rules were there to safeguard business law and protect employees.

Head of the agency's local immigration crime team for Kent, Carla Johnson, said: "Illegal working is unfair on honest employers who recruit staff with the right to work in the UK and who pay them a proper salary."

A special unit to tackle illegal migrants has been expanded to make our borders "impenetrable and watertight" says Britain's Immigration Minister.

The Joint Intelligence Unit at Folkestone Police Station now includes the Serious Organised Crime Agency and Police Aux Frontiers, the French equivalent of the UK Border Agency.

The Anglo/French JIU is the only one of its kind in the UK and has a dedicated French police officer at its Folkestone base to provide a direct line of communication across the Channel.

Immigration Minister Phil Woolas and his French counterpart Eric Besson said its task was to target the people smugglers, not the migrants, and to show the traffickers their criminal activities were not worthwhile.