The owners of the Sussex Arms have been fined following a raid which found it was illegally employing a worker from overseas who had overstayed his visa.

The hefty penalty was imposed following a raid by Immigration Enforcement Officers in October last year, however details have only now been made public by the Home Office.

The owners of the pub, which is on the Staines Road, near Twickenham Green, said the problem arose because of an administrative problem in its process for vetting staff.

As a result, the company failed to pick up the fact that the visa of a member of staff had lapsed and he therefore no longer had a right to work. This system has now been improved.

The revelation comes against the background of concerns across the hospitality industry around the difficulty in finding staff, however that was not an issue in this instance.

The Sussex Arms is owned by the Morgan Pub Collective, which runs ten pubs, including the The Express Tavern, at Kew Bridge, along with others in Soho, Hampstead, Windsor, and Henley.

The website of the pub boasts that it is a 'CAMRA award winning pub known for our lively pub garden, attentive staff, seasonal food menu and extensive cask and keg selection.'

It adds: 'Situated a 15-minute walk from the Stoop and 20 minutes from Twickenham Stadium, we're the perfect spot for that pre and post-game action.

'Otherwise first date, a catch up with family a friends, your favourite vinyl or that extra special celebration or party.'

Nub News understands that immigration officers raided the pub on October 18 last year following a tip-off that suggested illegal working.

Home Office sources said: "Two men were arrested for immigration offences and were dealt with according to immigration rules."

The business was served with a Civil Penalty Referral Notice informing them that a referral had been to the Civil Penalty Compliance Team to consider whether or not to issue them with a civil penalty.

Subsequently, a £15,000 penalty for the employment of one illegal worker was issued to the owners.

A Home Office spokesperson told Nub News: "Illegal working causes untold harm to our communities, cheating honest workers out of employment, putting vulnerable people at risk, and defrauding the public purse.

"The government is tackling illegal immigration and the harm it causes by removing those with no right to be in the UK."

Since 1997, all employers have had a responsibility to prevent illegal working.

Separately, it is a criminal offence for migrants to work illegally in the UK where, for example, they are unlawfully in the UK, including any self-employment activity.

It is not known what happened to the two individuals in this case. Technically, the offence of working illegally carries a maximum penalty of 51 weeks (England and Wales), or six months' (Scotland and Northern Ireland) imprisonment and/or a fine. 

The pub company said: "We received a visit about nine months ago. Our compliance checks were all manual at that stage and we had an employee working with us caught as an overstayer. His lapsed Right to Work (RTW) weren't picked up by us.

"We subsequently audited all our current employees and put robust measures in place to avoid a similar situation by implementing RTW compliance with our labour management software partner.

"It is a very tough labour market for hospitality operators, but this didn't have any influence in why we hired this person, we were just not aware that his visa had lapsed."