Protestors Release Cockroaches into Restaurant

Demonstrators released live cockroaches, crickets and locusts into two London branches of Byron Hamburgers, accusing the company of having "entrapped (staff)" in a crackdown on illegal immigration.

The insect incident happened over the weekend, and was followed on Monday by around 200 protestors gathering outside Byron's Holborn branch. The controversy was sparked by the arrest of 35 Byron workers on immigration charges on July 4.

The Home Office has said that the arrests included people from Albania, Brazil, Egypt and Nepal, and that 25 of those arrested were no longer in the UK.

Byron tweeted a statement on the case, saying that the company was "unaware that any of our workers were in possession of counterfeit documentation until the Home Office brought it to our attention."

The chain added that it had, according to its legal obligation, "co-operated fully and acted on the Home Office's requests."

London Black Revolutionaries and Malcolm X Movement, the groups behind the insect protests released a statement, saying:

"We must defend these people and their families from such dehumanized treatment.

"[The intention of the protest was] to inspire others to ensure Byron is shut down until they either go out of business and, they apologize to those staff impacted… and compensate them."

The Home Office said that Byron had carried out the required "right to work" checks and would not be facing civil penalty action.

If you need legal advice relating to your immigration status, contact our solicitors today. Call our team on 020 8297 4414 for more information.

Mandy Peters

Immigration Solicitors