Three businesses face being fined up to £100,000 after 10 illegal immigrants were found working in their stores.

The workers were arrested following Home Office raids on stores and restaurants in Haywards Heath, Upper Beeding and Horsham after officials were tipped off that not all of the staff should have been in the country.

A total of ten people were arrested on suspicion of offences including overstaying visas and breaching visa conditions.

The businesses raided on Thursday included Nisa Convenience Store in Hyde Square, Upper Beeding, where two 28-yearold men were found to be working in breach of their visa conditions and a 24- year-old man was found to have overstayed his visa.

Officers also arrested a 23-year-old Indian woman on suspicion of immigration offences, although she was not a worker.

When the Rajkumar restaurant in Springfield Road, Horsham, was raided a 37-year-old Indian and four Bangladeshis aged between 43 and 56 were arrested after being found to have overstayed their visas.

A 34-year-old Bangladeshi was also arrested on suspicion of immigration offences.

Officers also visited K & A Enterprises in South Road, Haywards Heath, where a 42-year-old Sri Lankan man was found to be working illegally.

He was not arrested but was sacked. He will now report to the Home Office.

The businesses involved face a fine of up to £10,000 per illegal worker unless they can prove they carried out proper checks.

Carla Johnson, the head of the Home Office immigration enforcement team in Sussex, said: “Illegal working has a serious impact on communities, undermining legitimate businesses and taking jobs from those who are allowed to work.

“While we are happy to work with businesses to let them know what checks need to be done on staff, those who do break the law should know that we are out there looking for them and they will face fines.”