Illegal staff could mean restaurant loses licence

A restaurant ordered to pay £135,000 after immigration enforcement officers found three illegal workers there could lose its licence later this week.

Plate at No. 6 in Market Place, Windsor, was raided by the Home Office Immigration Enforcement in February 2025.

Home Office papers submitted ahead of a Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead meeting on Friday state the men were employed there "by negligence or wilful blindness".

The tapas restaurant's owner was approached to comment.

The Home Office said the eatery was visited after officers received intelligence its owner was employing illegal workers.

One of the men, who is from South Sudan, arrived in the UK on a small boat in 2022. He had sought protection but an application for that and an appeal were refused in 2024.

He said he was employed to set the restaurant's tables and clean.

The second, who worked in the kitchen, applied to stay in the UK under the EU Settlement Scheme multiple times but all applications were refused.

The third, who was found washing dishes, entered the UK legally on a visitor visa valid from September 2022 to March 2023. But all subsequent applications to stay were refused.

Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead councillors will be told the £135,000 civil penalty has yet to be paid by the restaurant's parent company. Collection has been passed onto a debt recovery agency.

The council's licensing and public space protection order sub-committee will be asked to decide on the Home Office's application to revoke the restaurant's licence on Friday.

Under its premises licence it is able to sell alcohol but that permission can be removed if it is found to be breaking conditions, including preventing crime and disorder.