Six detained as immigration officers swoop

Operation: Restaurant and salon under suspicion North-east pupils come top in Doric film festival

Six people have been detained following a string of visits to Highland premises carried out by immigration officers.

The operation, which focused on Inverness and Dingwall, was led by the Home Office’s immigration enforcement team, acting upon intelligence that workers at two premises did not have the relevant paperwork in order to work in the UK.

One of the premises – Dings Chinese Restaurant in Dingwall – was served with a penalty notice that could bring with it a fine of £20,000 should it be found that the relevant checks for employment were not undertaken.

Two men in Dingwall were also found to have overstayed their visas, prompting action from the agencies involved in the operation, which was undertaken on Friday.

Officers swooped on Afrin Hair and Nails at Inverness’ Eastgate Centre where three Vietnamese men – aged 20, 24 and 28 – who had allegedly entered the country illegally were discovered by officers.

The 24-year-old was arrested and detained pending his removal from the country, with the other two placed on immigration bail while their cases are progressed.

In Dingwall, officers homed in on Dings on the town’s High Street, where a 47-year-old Malaysian man was arrested for working in breach of his visa conditions.

He was detained pending curtailment of his visa and removal from the UK.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: “Ding’s Chinese Restaurant was served a civil penalty referral notice warning that a financial penalty of up to £20,000 will be imposed unless the employer can demonstrate that appropriate right-to-work document checks were carried out, such as seeing a passport or Home Office document confirming permission to work.”

Two Bangladeshi men were arrested for overstaying their visas, with both men detained from Dingwall’s Tulloch Street ahead of removal from the UK.

Afrin Hair and Nails and Dings Chinese Restaurant were both approached for comment.

“Dings was served a civil penalty referral notice”

Children at a Peterhead primary school have been declared winners of a new Doric film festival.

Meethill Primary took first place in the schools category, which featured the impressive work of 11 primary schools from across Aberdeenshire.

Their film, Oor Blue Toon, featured pupils performing a song and discussing Peterhead, all the while making flawless use of the north-east dialect.

The youngsters were joined by school staff as they were unveiled as the winners during a ceremony at the Belmont Cinema yesterday.

Olivia Stephen, a teacher at Meethill, said: “We’re just delighted. It was such a nice surprise and it’s been a brilliant experience.

“We decided to focus on what Peterhead means to us, as it’s our local town.

“The children all contributed so well. Some of them were in their comfort zones but others weren’t, so it was a experience.

One delighted Meethill pupil said: “I wanted to cry. I felt so proud.”

“It has been great to see the children get involved”

great

Meethill faced some tough competition as judges said each school had produced high-quality Doric films, with differing styles and approaches.

They included news reports, rap songs, documentaries and dramas. Announcing the winner was Press and Journal assistant editor Joe Churcher.

He said: “We’ve had such a great variety of work, from rapping in Doric to films exploring the local area.

“It shows that while Doric is a language rooted in our history, it is not a relic.

“If you’re going to keep that tradition alive, you need to involve young people, so it has been great to see the children get involved and so clearly understand its importance.”

Mr Churcher added: “This is only the first event of its kind, but the number of entries was extraordinary.”