A corner shop owner in Swindon has been fined £10,000 by immigration enforcement for hiring an illegal worker.

The Home Office fined Rabiyama Mohamed Hussain because they say he hired someone without a visa to work at AAA Shop at 345 Cricklade Road - a claim he denies.

The shop has now closed which Mohamed Hussain says is partly due to the cost of the fine which he says was issued in error.

He says the alleged employee was only visiting his sister, who was employed at the shop but maintains that the visiting brother, an Indian national with no work visa, was never employed by him.

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He explained: “I was at the cash and carry when the Home Office visited. The brother wanted to see his sister who was working in the shop.

“At the same time, he wanted to check in the shop, Home Office came to the shop and they got him.

“I already told the Home Office - this person is not working for me, but they will not accept it.”

He described the situation as “bad luck” and said he appealed the decision.

The Home Office confirmed that AAA Shop was issued a civil penalty of £10,000 for the employment of one individual without right to work in the UK.

It did not comment on whether the fine had been appealed, or why an appeal might have been rejected.

A spokesperson said: “We are determined to clamp down both on illegal working and the exploitative treatment of illegal workers.

“Vulnerable individuals can find themselves trapped in unsafe and insecure conditions, facing exploitation and even modern-day slavery, often facilitated by organised criminal gangs.”

AAA Shop Ltd is still active as a company with Mohamed Hussain as the sole director but the physical shop closed in February to be replaced by KS Convenience Store.

A KS worker told the Advertiser that Mohamed Hussain also owns Chennai Fresh, a grocery store on County Road. An employee at Chennai Fresh confirmed this.

A number of Swindon businesses have been fined recently by the UK Visas and Immigration and Immigration Enforcement arms of the Home Office.

This also included Victoria Road chicken shop Tennessee Chicken, which was fined £15,000.

The fines come after a week of action in August against businesses suspected of employing illegal workers following a promised crackdown by the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper.