Immigration raid 15 arrested at solar farm site

THE Home Office has arrested 15 people it says were illegally working at a solar farm outside Bristol.

- Shannon BROWN [e-mail]

The department's immigration enforcement team arrested the group of men at Goldbeck Solar Farm 28 following reports they were illegally employed as construction workers.

Of the 15 arrests, 13 men entered the UK on temporary seasonal worker visas and all claimed asylum prior to their visas expiring.

The Home Office said, so far, three of these claims have been denied and 10 are currently outstanding.

Those arrested at the solar farm were of Kazakhstani, Turkish, Georgian, Uzbekistani, Kyrgyz and Tajikistani nationalities.

One man came to the UK on a Standard Visitor visa and claimed asylum - this is still outstanding, the Home Office said.