STAFF at Westbury’s Tale of Spice II said they were left feeling humiliated and frustrated after Home Office immigration officials raided the restaurant demanding to see paperwork during their busiest time.

The raid came around 8pm last Friday as staff catered for around 30 people at the Indian restaurant located on Warminster Road.

They said immigration officers ordered the closure of the kitchen and lined staff up requiring them to provide the appropriate paper work in front of bemused customers.

Manager Sahil Ullah said: “I said to the immigration officers if they could speak with one member of staff at a time in the kitchen so that some of them could continue to work and serve the customers as we had about 30 people there at the time.

“They wouldn’t though so I had no choice but to go round and apologise to the customers and say that their food would be delayed.

“I said to them 'why don’t they come during the week when we are not busy' but they said ‘this is when you have the most staff on’.

Paul Youden, who was a customer at the restaurant at the time was unhappy with the way immigration officials handled the situation and has put in a complaint to UK Border Force.

He said: “The whole thing was embarrassing for customers and humiliating for staff.

“It should not have happened in such a public environment, they should have taken them to a private room or politely said to diners that they were going to have to close the restaurant and asked us to leave.

“I couldn’t fault this restaurant, all the staff were magnificent and I felt really sorry for the manager who was such a nice guy who had to apologise to us all.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Home Office Immigration Enforcement Officers visited Tale of Spice II where two Bangladeshi men, aged 35 and 52, were found to be working in breach of their visa conditions.

“They have been ordered to report regularly to the Home Office while their cases are progressed.

“Additionally, two more Bangladeshi men, aged 47 and 28, were found to have no right to work in the UK and must also report to the Home Office regularly while their cases are progressed.

“The business was served with a notice warning that a financial penalty of up to £20,000 per illegal worker found will be imposed unless the employer can demonstrate that appropriate right to work document checks were carried out, such as seeing a passport or Home Office document.”

The incident is not the first time that immigration officers have entered the premises.

In February 2014 six Bangladeshi men, aged 22, 29, 40, 40, 45 and 54 were arrested, three for overstaying their visas and the other three for not having the right to work in the UK.

Other Tale of Spice restaurants in Trowbridge, Chippenham and Pewsey have also had staff arrested arrested in the last few months. On Friday one Bangladeshi man at the Chippenham branch was found to be working illegally during a raid.