Inside raid targeting illegal migrants: Twelve Indian men and women are arrested as officers storm bedding factory - including one worker in the UK illegally who was offered flight home and a £3,000 payout but turned it down

More than 30 officers raided a bedding and mattress factory yesterday as part of a major operation targeting illegal workers that led to a dozen arrests. 

Specialist immigration enforcement teams in six vans surrounded the large warehouse near Tipton in the West Midlands before rushing in just after 10am.

Several workers started running away after spotting the officers and tried to hide between timber pallets and piles of mattresses before they were handcuffed.

MailOnline joined officers as they stormed the site after receiving intelligence that some of the employees were working illegally in the UK. 

The name of the business, Giomani Designs, was on a sign outside, and its products - which include leather beds and outdoor rattan furniture - are sold direct to consumers online.

Officers interviewed all the men at the factory before arresting seven Indian men for suspected illegal working. Those found to be legally employed were allowed to return to their shift. 

It is the third raid on the site in seven months, with the owners now facing crippling fines of up to £60,000 per illegal worker. 

One man was arrested for breaching bail conditions relating to an earlier immigration offence and – through a translator - was offered the choice of a voluntary departure to India and a £3,000 payment but turned this down. It was not clear why.

The enticement is part of a Home Office scheme to speed up the return of illegal migrants to their home countries.

A member of staff at the site insisted Giomani Designs had its 'documents in order' and said it employed large numbers of foreign workers because it could not find British people to do their 'difficult' job. 

Four more Indian men were arrested at a nearby cake factory and found to be in breach of their visa conditions, while one was also working illegally.

An Indian woman was then arrested for immigration offences at a nearby home.

Four of the offenders were detained pending consideration for removal from the UK, while the remaining eight were bailed on the condition they report regularly to the Home Office.

The cake business could also face a substantial fines if it is proved to have employed illegal workers and failed to conduct relevant pre-employment checks.

Eddy Montgomery, director of enforcement at the Home Office, told MailOnline: 'We executed a warrant based on intelligence we had received.

'We need to ensure employers are carrying out the right checks to ensure people aren't here illegally – that's why we've tripled the fines since February.

'Illegal workers are found in every sector – industry, beauty, the gig economy – every area you can think of.'

Previous raids took place on the mattress factory in October and November, leading to 30 arrests.

The management have been referred to fines over the two previous raids.

In February this year, the Home Office tripled fines for employers who allow illegal migrants to work for them. 

For a first breach this has gone from £15,000 to £45,000 per illegal worker and for repeat breaches within 3 years the fines have increased from £20,000 to £60,000. 

Mr Montgomery added: 'The arrests send a clear message that we are clamping down on this dangerous practice.

'People smugglers sell migrants the lie that they can work in the UK. 

'The reality is that they can't – and those found to be working illegally or facilitating this crime will face the full weight of the law.'

The Government has also significantly increased penalties for landlords who allow illegal migrants to rent their properties. 

There will now be fines of £5,000 per lodger and £10,000 per occupier for a first breach, up from £80 and £1,000.

Fines for repeat breaches have also risen to £10,000 per lodger and £20,000 per occupier, up from £500 and £3,000.

Ministers hope the tougher sanctions will send a 'clear message' to those seeking to travel to Britain by small boat that they will not be able to work or have a place to live in the UK.

The bigger fines - the first increase since 2014 - are aimed at both reducing the 'pull factor' for would-be migrants, as well as to disrupt people-smuggling gangs who promise people jobs and homes in the UK.

Home Office figures showed, since the start of 2018, more than 6,000 civil penalties have been issued to employers with a total value of over £105million.

Over the same period, landlords have been hit with more than 400 civil penalties worth a total of over £330,000 in the same period.

The first 11 months of 2023 saw 1,471 penalties issued to employers at a value of £26million, while landlords received 140 penalties at a value of £136,000.

Michael Tomlinson MP, Minister for Countering Illegal Migration, said of the factory raids: 'This operation is a clear example of the way we are stepping up immigration enforcement activity across the country.

'Employers found to be breaching the rules can expect significantly increased fines, and, if workers are found to have no right to live or work here, we will not hesitate to act and remove them from the country.'

It comes as the Home Office revealed 150 migrant hotels will have closed by next month after new figures showed £4.3billion of Britain's overseas aid budget was spent on hosting refugees and asylum seekers last year.

There are now 20,000 fewer people staying in the accommodation than six months ago, down from more than 56,000 at the end of September, the department announced today.

The Home Office spent around £8 million a day last year for tens of thousands of asylum seekers to be put up in hotels while the introduction of alternative housing plans faced a series of setbacks.

Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick announced last October that the Government would be 'exiting' 50 hotels by the end of January, with more to follow.

The process will continue 'until the last hotel is closed,' Home Secretary James Cleverly said yesterday.

MailOnline contacted Giomani Designs for further comment but was unable to reach a representative.