Wokingham- what do you say

[Mady]

"Wokingham is an attractive market town with excellent road and rail links. Good schools and low levels of crime make the town attractive to families and residents who enjoy a high quality of life. The Wokingham Times has been serving the town of Wokingham since 1903. It's a quality, award-winning....."

Anyone living in this area or knows this place and what do you say?

My husband is now based in Reading,so we are basically thinking of moving in around that area but not Reading itself.

Your input/views are very much appreciated.

Thank you..

[Dedworth]

I've always thought it a nice place but the UKBA have found germs there :-

Business owner's shock at illegal worker arrests



A restaurant manager has spoken of his shock after immigration officers swooped on two of his family’s Indian restaurants in the town centre.

Six illegal workers now face deportation after Home Office raids at Boishakhi and Baranda, both in Peach Street, on Thursday.

Baranda manager Faruk Bhuiya claims documentation was checked but added it is difficult to employ kitchen staff familiar with Bangladeshi cuisine.

He said: “We saw their documents and we thought they were genuine.

“There used to be lots of students we could hire but they don’t let them have the same permits anymore.

“It is the hardest thing to hire staff in the kitchen nowadays. There isn’t enough of a Bangladeshi community nearby.

“I know a lot of restaurants, including Chinese, are suffering from problems hiring people.”

Six illegal workers face deportation after Wokingham Indian restaurant raids

Officers first raided Baranda at 12.15pm and arrested a 36-year-old man who had entered the country illegally and a 46-year-old man who had overstayed his visa.

At Boishakhi, officers discovered a 23-year-old Nepalese man and two Bangladeshi men aged 33 and 36 had all over-stayed their visas.

A 32-year-old Bangladeshi man was also found to be working in breach of his visa conditions.

All six men are now awaiting deportation.

The restaurants could be fined as much as £10,000 per illegal worker unless bosses can prove the correct right-to-work checks were carried out.

Mr Bhuiya claims one of the men did not work at Boishakhi but lived above it, and three of the six workers were employed by the restaurant’s previous owner and continued to work there when Boishakhi opened.

He added he thought all six men could work in the country.

Mr Bhuiya said: “It was a complete shock. I haven’t known of anything like it before.

“There was no warning and they came through the front and asked everybody to stop what they were doing.

“Within an hour they took them away.

“Everyone is very upset. The family is shocked and we don’t know what to do now and how to run the business.”

Mr Bhuiya’s brother Omar manages Boishakhi restaurant, which opened last September.

The potential fines hanging over the restaurants stand at £20,000 for Baranda and £40,000 for Boishakhi.

Mr Bhuiya added: “It may take a couple of weeks to find out the exact situation.

“The consequence would more than likely be we would have to close the businesses.

“We would have to sell the businesses to pay them.”

Paul Smith, from the Thames Valley and Surrey Home Office Immigration Enforcement team, said: “Our teams carry out visits like this in Berkshire almost every day, with more planned in the future.

“Illegal working has a serious impact on communities, undermining legitimate businesses and taking jobs from those who are genuinely allowed to work.

“We are happy to work with businesses to let them know what checks need to be made on staff, but those who break the law should know they will face financial penalties.

“I would urge members of the public with information about suspected immigration abuse to get in touch.”

Employers wanting to learn more can visit www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/business-sponsors/preventing-illegal-working/ or they can call the Employers Helpline on 0300 123 4699.

http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/local-news/business-owners-shock-illegal-worker-6056541

[Mady]

Hi Dedworth,

Thanks for sharing this article.

As far as I am concern, illegal workers can be anywhere.

The area where we are living now is well known to be low rate crime, yet lately there was a report of attempted rape. I am more concern hearing about rape cases than illegal workers :smile:

We are also considering other area too. Berkshire is on the list. We will be visiting these places to get a feelings.