A south Bucks curry house has been fined tens of thousands of pounds for employing illegal workers in a Home Office crackdown on illegal employment.

Memsaab, in Wooburn Moor, was slapped with a £30,000 fine after immigration inspectors found three illegal workers employed by the restaurant.

The director of Royel Taj HW Limited, which traded as the London Road-based restaurant, was disqualified on September 14 this year.

This means that without a court’s permission, Mohammed Zinuk Khan cannot act as a director of a company, cannot take part directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership, or be the receiver of a company’s property.

The Insolvency Service, which carried out the investigations, said in total 20 directors in 16 different businesses across the country were disqualified after being fined previously, and 18 people were banned from being company directors or being involved in the management of companies for six years each.

Between the businesses, which include 11 restaurants, four takeaway or fast food establishments, and a shop, were found to have employed 41 illegal workers and were fined a total of £505,000 by the Home Office, none of which were reported to have paid.

Two of the companies have now reportedly entered into liquidation, with a further two having been dissolved.

Speaking about the disqualifications, Cheryl Lambert, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: “Employing illegal workers is not consequence free, either for the employer, the employee or the consumer.

“These directors sought an unfair advantage over their law abiding competitors by employing people who were not entitled to work legally in the UK.

“By definition this is a set of people who are without the protection of the law and knowledge of the authorities, and thereby extremely vulnerable to exploitation in all its forms.

“It is bad for business and bad for society as a whole.

“If a company is found to be employing illegal workers and not carrying out the checks they are required to by law, then the Insolvency Service will continue to liaise with the Home Office to ensure that not only the workers, but the employers will be removed from the market place.

“This is regardless of the whether the company remains trading or is in liquidation.

“These actions are a warning that the Government is pursuing bad employers.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “Illegal working is not victimless. It undercuts honest employers, cheats legitimate job seekers out of employment opportunities and defrauds the taxpayer.

“Businesses should be aware that they have a duty to check that their staff have permission to work in the UK.

“We are happy to work with employers who play by the rules but those who do not, should know that they will not go under our radar.”