Portsmouth newsagents Twyford News fined £40k for employing illegal workers after surprise immigration raid

Twyford News in Twyford Avenue, Stamshaw, has been slapped with a £40,000 fine by the government. The punishment, made against Agni Retails Ltd, was listed on the government website in a quarterly report listing civil penalties for “for illegal working given to employers in London and the South East”.

The document is available online and available to the public. Immigration officers arrested five suspected illegal workers from India and Sri Lanka at the business and a nearby house in April 2023. The government enforcement officials, joined by The News and a member of Portsmouth City Council’s, stormed the shop and arrested a male member of staff serving customers.

A nearby house in Wilson Road - suspected to be containing people who work for Twyford News - was simultaneously busted by immigration officers. Four males were arrested as cash and expired passports were recovered. The three bedroom terraced house contained a bunk bed in the main downstairs room. In total, two Sri Lankan men aged 23 and 24 were bailed, and three Indian men, aged 24, 25, and 29, were detained.

As previously reported, anyone found guilty of employing illegal workers can be fined £20,000 per worker. Matt Wilkinson, assistant director for immigration enforcement in Portsmouth, previously said the sting was carried out following “allegations of illegal working”.

“We visited a business where we’ve gone and encountered a suspected illegal worker,” they added. “We made one arrest at the shop and four arrests at the address where the people were living. We will seek to understand the situation they are in and the factors behind it. We are trying to contact the shop owner to understand their side of the story. Any foreign nationals without the right to work are eligible for enforcement activity.”

Twyford News have been approached for comment.