Foreign nationals are targeted in crackdown

8:00am Thursday 24th July 2008

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DOZENS of agricultural labourers were stopped in south Worcestershire by police and the UK Border Agency as part of a crackdown on foreign workers.

Five minibuses were stopped and seized on various roads and the M5 in south Worcestershire yesterday morning.

A number of workers were detained by the agency, and several others released while investigations continued.

A spokesman for the agency said he was unable to give precise numbers for the number detained.

“The agency is committed to tracking down and removing foreign nationals that come to Britain and break our rules,” he said.

The operation also involved HM Revenues and Customs (HMRC) and the Gangmaster’s Licensing Authority (GLA), an organisation which aims to prevent the exploitation of agricultural workers such as fruit and vegetable pickers.

An HMRC spokesman said five minibuses were found to be running illegally on red diesel – a type of rebated fuel only allowed for off-road agricultural vehicles such as tractors and combine harvesters.

She said: “We seized five vehicles and they have been impounded whilst we carry out further investigations.”

Darryl Dixon, from the GLA, which licenses gangmasters who control the supply of labour, said he was still awaiting details of the investigation.

However, he said the organisation was looking for defective vans with problems such as broken door locks or where workers were made to sit on makeshift benches without safety belts.

He also said staff would be talking to workers to find out if they were being exploited.

The minibuses were taken to West Mercia Constabulary’s headquarters at Hindlip, leaving a group of about 50 workers stranded without transport.

The workers were later seen standing by the side of the A38 near Perdiswell.

A police spokesman said: “Due to vehicles being seized for a number of reasons, a substantial number of occupants of those vehicles had to find alternative methods of transport from Hindlip to reach their destinations or return home.”

Police took some workers to the Perdiswell park-and-ride while others made their own way before travelling on to Foregate Street train station.