Police and immigration officials in nail bar raid

Home Office officials and police officers swooped on Nail Icon, in Perth’s South Street, on Friday morning.

Eyewitnesses said that a large number of officers were involved, and that the nail bar was closed after the raid took place.

A police van was seen parked outside the shop while the raid took place at about 10am.

A worker from a nearby shop who witnessed the raid said: “It must have been about 10 o’clock.

“A policewoman was first to come along the road, and then about 10 or 12 officers passed and went into the nail bar.

“One of them was in gear, like they wear for raids — that’s when we realised something was going on.

“The nail bar was closed and the officers were in there for a while before the first person was led into the van.

“There were maybe another half a dozen or so taken away after that.”

He added: “After they were taken away there was a policeman on duty at the door.

“A couple of people tried to get in — I think they were customers — but the policeman just stood there with the door closed. “It is usually quite a busy wee place.” Aidan McCormick, who works at a store across the road, said he saw a young woman being escorted from the premises by officers — although she is not believed to be among the group that officials have detained.

Mr McCormick said: “I saw what was happening but we didn’t know what was going on at the time.

“It didn’t look like just Tayside police.

“They were fully kitted out in black gear, not just high-vis jackets.

“There were at least four or five of them outside but that’s just what I could see.

“The nail bar was closed afterwards — it is usually open at that time of day.”

A spokeswoman for the Home Office confirmed that officials had been involved in Friday’s raid.

He said: “Immigration Enforcement assisted Police Scotland with an operation at an address in South Street, Perth.

“Three Vietnamese men, aged 26, 29 and 51, have been arrested and are currently being questioned by immigration officers.”

THREE men have been detained after an immigration raid on a Tayside nail bar.

Police at the scene of the raid on the Nail Icon shop on Perth’s South Street. A number of people were seen being led away by officers.

A police van outside the nail bar.