60 delivery riders face deportation after illegal work crackdownGetty ImagesThe government says 60 takeaway-delivery riders found to be working illegally in the UK are facing deportation. The Home Office says the group are among 171 riders arrested over seven days in November in a national "enforcement blitz" in villages, towns and cities across the country. It comes as Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has been targeting people working unlawfully in the "gig economy". Border Security Minister Alex Norris has also met representatives from food-delivery firms to encourage them to do more to tackle the issue - such as using facial recognition checks to prevent riders sharing their identities with people who do not have permission to take up work in the UK. Norris said November's action ought to "send a clear message: if you are working illegally in this country, you will be arrested and removed". He added: "We are tightening the law to clamp down on illegal working in the delivery sector to root out this criminality from our communities." The Home Office highlighted the cases of two Chinese nationals arrested at a restaurant in Solihull, four riders of Bangladeshi and Indian nationality in Newham, east London, and three riders of Indian nationality in Norwich. Seven of them were "detained for removal", it said. Asylum seekers are generally not allowed to undertake paid work during their first 12 months in the UK, or until their asylum application is approved. But earlier this year the Sun newspaper reported that Channel migrants were able to rent accounts from legitimate delivery firm workers via social media groups. The government said at the time that "illicit account sharing" had been facilitating illegal work.
