Delivery drivers arrested in London as dozens face deportation for illegal working

Overall, 171 people were arrested as part of the action last month, including 60 detained for removal from Britain.

Bangladeshi and Indian riders caught in Newham, east London were among those detained.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood also joined an operation in Streatham, where delivery drivers were stopped and their papers checked.

Video footage released by the Home Office shows officers escorting an arrested man into the back of an immigration enforcement van.

The drive comes as ministers crack down on illegal working across Britain as part of efforts to deter those coming to the country illegally.

Ms Mahmood set out a raft of reforms to the asylum system last month, aimed at making the UK less attractive for migrants and making it easier to deport people.

Border security minister Alex Norris said: "These results should send a clear message, if you are working illegally in this country, you will be arrested and removed.

"As well as delivering record levels of enforcement, we are tightening the law to clamp down on illegal working in the delivery sector to root out this criminality from our communities.

"This action is part of the most sweeping changes to illegal migration in modern times to reduce the incentives that draw illegal migrations here and scale up removals."

Home Office figures show there were 8,232 arrests of illegal workers in the year to September, up 63% on 5,043 in the previous 12 months.

In London, bars and restaurants have been targeted with the Home Office issuing hefty fines and bringing licencing reviews against those found to have hired staff illegally.

Between January 1 and the end of March, 61 firms in the capital were issued penalties totalling more than £3.2million after employing people with no right to work in the UK.

This compares to almost 40 London businesses who were slapped with fines of almost £2.8million in the last three months of 2024, Home Office data analysed by The Standard shows.

Ministers have also been working with firms Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats to address concerns of abuse in the sector and ramping up identity checks to tackle account-sharing.

The Home Office also agreed in July to share asylum hotel locations with food delivery companies, to tackle suspected hot spots of illegal working.

The action also comes as the Government's new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act became law on Tuesday, which includes measures to close a "loophole" for casual, temporary or subcontracted workers to also have to prove their status.

Employers who fail to carry out checks could face up to five years in prison, fines of £60,000 for each illegal worker they have employed, and having their business closed.