THREE illegal immigrants have been caught working in Bournemouth business premises by the UK Border Agency.

Acting on intelligence, officers visited Costa Coffee at the Castlepoint shopping centre.

They found a 29-year-old Chinese woman who had entered the UK illegally and now faces deportation. On the same afternoon officers went to Art Hairdressing in Palmerston Road, Boscombe.

They found a 50-year-old Malaysian woman with no legal right to work in the UK. She was placed on immigration bail.

Two hours later the Salsa restaurant on Charminster Road was raided and a 24-year-old Syrian man arrested. He remains in immigration detention pending deportation.

Kenny Chapman, who heads the UK Border Agency’s South West immigration team, said: “Through operations like this we are sending a simple message to immigration offenders living and working in Dorset – you will be caught.”

Salsa and Art Hairdressing are due to be issued with a penalty notice for employing illegal workers and could face fines of up to £10,000. Costa Coffee was able to show that the required checks had been made.