Migrants work illegally as food delivery taxpayer-funded hotel

EXPRESS INVESTIGATION

- By Zak Garner-Purkis

ASYLUM seekers at a migrant hotel have apparently been working illegally, an Express probe has found.

Over two nights, we observed at least 10 men leaving the premises before doing delivery work.

They attached Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats-branded carriers to their e-bikes and fixed mobile phones to their handlebars.

When we tried to speak to those suspected of doing illegal work, they covered their faces and raced off.

Other residents, who were drinking and taking drugs outside the 400-bed former three-star hotel in Central London, tried to physically intimidate our team. One man threatened to violently assault an Express reporter, shouting: “I'll bust your head.”

Asylum seekers cannot work for at least a year when waiting for claims to be processed and even those given permits cannot work as delivery drivers under Home Office rules.

But the security team for the Home Office site did nothing about the anti-social behaviour and illegal working on both evenings.

Failed

When approached for comment security took photos of the Express team and told us to direct questions to the Home Office. They also refused to explain why there was a temporary fence obscuring a mass of courier bikes outside the hotel.