A row has broken out over Home Office claims that 13 people were arrested as having no right to work in the UK during immigration enforcement action taken at Aspendos in Margate and other east Kent venues last Friday (November 7).
Immigration officers entered the Turkish restaurant and takeaway in Cecil Square as part of an illegal working crackdown.
Officers also carried out visits to other sites across east and south Kent, which include Folkestone and Ashford.
The Home Office says 13 arrests took place and, after further queries following the business owner’s denials, said four of these were in Margate and nine at the other sites in the county.
But Aspendos owner ‘Muj’ says there were no arrests and he will take legal action to disprove the claims. He also says immigration officers were heavy-handed ‘making customers leave and stopping staff from working.’
He added: “We will be taking full action for all responsible and hope locals support family run shops like us (to not be) bullied (by) this sort of unnecessary unfair behaviour by officers and officials.
- 4 individuals were arrested with no right to work in the UK at 14 – 16 Cecil Square, Margate, CT9 1BD.
- 13 arrests were made in East Kent as a whole. All of the addresses visited were operated by the Aspendos chain of restaurants.
- 3 individuals were arrested at 29 Cheriton High Street, Folkestone, CT19 4EY.
- 3 individuals were arrested at 29 Bank Street, Ashford, TN23 1DG.
- 2 individuals were arrested at 6 Aspen House, West Terrace, Folkestone, CT20 1TH
- 1 individual was arrested at 67 – 69 High Street, Dymchurch, TN29
They added that claims of no arrests were “not correct.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Illegal working undermines honest employers, undercuts local wages, and fuels the criminal industry of immigration crime. This government is determined to clamp down on that illegal activity in every sector where it occurs, including restaurants.
“Under this government, enforcement action nationwide has soared to their highest levels since records began, following an uplift in enforcement action.”
Between October 2024 and September 2025, more than 8,000 people in the UK have been arrested for working illegally following 11,000 visits carried out by Immigration Enforcement. This represents a year-on-year increase of 63% in arrests and 51% in enforcement visits.
The Home Office says some 1,050 foreign nationals encountered during the operations have been removed from the United Kingdom.
A business owner can be sent to jail for 5 years and have to pay an unlimited fine if they are found guilty of employing someone who they knew or had ‘reasonable cause to believe’ did not have the right to work in the UK.
The penalty starting point – before any mitigation- is £45,000 per illegal worker for a first breach within three years, and £60,000 per illegal worker for a repeat breach within three years.
However, for a first breach where mitigation is shown the Home Office may issue a Warning Notice instead of a financial penalty.
No surprise there! Funnily enough, we were chatting just the other day how the old all-you-can-eat Chinese Restaurant on Margate seafront (Dreamland cinema) was closed down by immigration.
Buster Bloodvessel took the all you can eat challenge to new dimensions there. If immigration hadn’t closed them, he would have bankrupted them.
From memory Peter , that was when it was Oriental Buffet , it later became Cosmo buffet and Margate branch closed because it wasn’t busy enough.
Close the restaurant,jail the owners
That’s a huge fine to be had for 13 illegals but I bet they get away with the pathetic Warning.
Now this is the type of offence that TDC should be shutting down businesses for. They’ve had a go at the Bong Shop now I look forward to seeing what they will do against this business.
Given it’s 13 offences, would it be too much to hope that no mitigation is accepted that the fine is the full 585k and the person in control of it all gets the full 5 years. Though i won’t hold my breath.
In addition hopefully there’ll be checks on any associated businesses , as it’ll be just the tip of the problemin the area.
they should be on the next boat back where they came from , but we know absolutely nothing will be done , these illegal gimmegrants have more rights than the true british people, and it appears they are encouraged to come here and do as they like
No, they don’t have more rights than true British (sic) people.
They may no have more rights but they absolutely get more support,more help,trust me I deff no this…Dr’s,dentists the bloody lot and they don’t have to wait for appts either.we have no faith or trust in our society niw,bet the shop still open ,bet they do just get told there naughty.🤬🤬
What are ‘True British people’? The ones who are really to blame are the owners of the companies who exploit these people and they should face the full force of the law. Those exploited should not be blamed but should be dealt with correctly.
Nonsense, “real world”.
I absolutely agree real world,deff shut them down,do whats right tdc,you done it to our beloved bong shop,sick all these foreigners doing as they please in the UK,so sick of it ,there every we’re like damn locusts
Whate absolutely abhorrent language you and others are using to refer to other human beings. Referring to them as locusts is straight out of a fascist playbook. These ‘foreigners’ are your nurses, Doctors, cleaners and all other imaginable jobs. They pay into the system and make this country a better place. I couldn’t thing of anything worse than for them to be deported and we are left with you and your ilk.
Oh dear. One of our favourite takeaways!
Let’s hope they followed UK hygiene law more closely than they did UK employment law.
Does the owner of the Margate restaurant,own the other places that the article shows, all have the same name. if they are guilty they should be jailed.
Well don’t say nothing is happening.If they are working illegally deportation is the correct avenue, what’s the point in jailing them,it wastes court time and NOMs will only let them out by mistake.Now will you see why an ID card is necessary.
I would remind you that there is no such thing as a true Britain, as even the Britons were immigrants from Europe,as were the Saxons, vikings, Jutes and of course the Romans. The royal family has German ancestry, and the blue bloods of England are Frenchified Vikings.
If we all took a DNA test,not one of us would be an indigenous inhabitant.We all come from somewhere,my knuckle scraping chums.
Indeed – we are are apparently all Africans really . . .
Yes, Homo-Sapiens originated in the savannahs of Arica and “migrated” north, east and west.The only reason we are white is because of the relative lack of sunshine in the northern hemisphere this must be unsettling for some as they believe in white supremacy.Of course we don’t know what happened to the then dominant variant of homo, the neanderthals living in europe,but I could hazard a guess.
I’m a Zulu.
Now why does that not surprise me!
History would suggest that “migration” does in fact have a negative affect on the local population then. Thanks for pointing that out.
The fines and jail time are for the business owner/ person in control , rather than the illegal workers, or have i got that wrong. The owner may well have uk citizenship and the right to stay, can’t imagine employing illegal workers would be considered sufficient to strip anyone of their citizenship.
We hear of reports where some convicted of child abuse manage tovavoid deportation, so rather expect a bit of prison time and a bit of a fine are best we can hope for in this case ( assuming the charges are correct and proven)
The real question is who are the customers? Without customers they wouldn’t exist, so if they are British then surely they are just as culpabal?
How are customers “culpabal” (it’s actually culpable)? Do you check the legal status of staff in every shop you use?
I have know idea how you come to this conclusion. Would every customer now need to check the legal status of every employee of every business they deal with? If you are right, any customer should be culpable. Irrespective of their nationality. Why have you singled out only the British customers in this case?
Actually there is a reason Aspendos employs thos the shouldn’t
They pay illegal wages, no NI and in cash knowing the employees cannot complain for fear and the owners like “muj” pocket bigger profits.
At the same time legit business fold unable to match their prices
I’ve never used them, and I certainly won’t be doing so now.