Three illegal immigrants were caught working at a Shropshire car wash after a team of officers from the UK Border Agency swooped on the business.

The car wash beside Enterprise Garage Car Sales in Trench Lock, Telford, was raided yesterday afternoon.

Three Iraqi nationals washing cars were arrested and taken away for questioning.

The owner of the car wash now faces a £30,000 fine if he cannot prove checks were made to establish the men were in the country legally.

Enterprise Garage Car Sales was not involved in the running of the car wash.

One eyewitness, who was having his car washed at the time but did not want to be named, said: “They were all taken away and their arms were waving in the air.

“They were saying they could not understand what was happening to them.”

Embarrassment

A worker at the garage, who did not want to be named, said: “The border police came and took away people from the car wash but they are nothing to do with us, they just rent the land for the car wash.

“There was an element of embarrassment with the police on the premises dragging people away, but there was no real disruption.”

Simon Ballinger, spokes-man for the UK Border Agency, said the car sales business fully co-operated with the agency and said Enterprise Garage Car Sales did not own the car wash operated from their site.

He added officers, acting on intelligence, checked the immigration status of four people working at the car wash.

One was a Czech national with the right to work in the UK, while the other three were now being questioned.

Mr Ballinger said: “Two of the Iraqi men were failed asylum seekers with no right to work in the UK.

“Both were arrested and taken to Malinsgate Police Station for further questioning. The agency will now arrange to deport both men back to Iraq as soon as possible. The third Iraqi illegal worker was also not entitled to work in the UK.

“The manager of the car wash lives in Wolverhampton and will receive a civil penalty notice for employing three illegal workers.”

By Kirsty Smallman and Jason Lavan