Over 170 arrests in crackdown on illegal delivery riders

Around 170 delivery riders have been arrested as part of a government crackdown on illegal working.

A week-long operation by immigration enforcement teams last month saw 60 people detained for removal from the UK.

These included two Chinese nationals found working in a restaurant in Solihull, four delivery riders of Bangladeshi and Indian nationality in Newham, and three riders of Indian nationality arrested in Norwich city centre.

It forms part of wider government efforts to crack down on illegal working in the UK.

Last month, border security minister Alex Norris met with Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats to discuss how they can go further to tackle illegal working on their platforms.

This includes ramping up randomised facial recognition checks to tackle illicit account sharing.

In July, the Home Office agreed to share the location of asylum hotels with food delivery companies to tackle suspected hot spots of illegal working.

Last week, new laws to expand right to work checks to the gig economy, including delivery riders, came into force.

Bosses who fail to conduct the checks could be jailed for up to five years, face fines of £60,000 per illegal worker and have their businesses closed.

Earlier this year recruitment agency Recruitachef Ltd was fined £30,000 for employing illegal staff to work as cleaners, porters and maids at the London Marriott Hotel Regents Park after arrests were made in 2023.

There were 8,000 arrests of peoples suspected of illegal working in the last year, a 63% rise, according to Home Office figures.

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.”