This is the dramatic moment a delivery rider was held by police officers as the crackdown on migrants working illegally in London’s West End intensifies.
The man was patted down by an officer while another looked on, with a Deliveroo food bag seen on the floor in front of them during the Home Office-led operation.
The officer’s jacket was placed on top of the bag before the unnamed man was led towards a marked police van at Cambridge Circus yesterday lunchtime at 12.30pm.
Police were also seen pulling over another food courier on a bicycle on nearby West Street, with that man ordered to stop before three officers spoke to him.
One witness claimed he saw nine bikes being seized in total, adding: ‘On every corner of the junction bikes were being stopped when approaching the lights. I was then told it was an operation to target the e-bikes and any illegal immigrants working.’
MailOnline understands that someone wearing a Deliveroo branded kit does not necessarily work with the firm – and riders can use what they like because they are self-employed, as long as it meets Deliveroo’s minimum safety requirements.
But Deliveroo said: ‘We have a zero tolerance approach to any criminal activity and all riders are DBS checked before onboarding with us. We investigate all reports of illegal activity and stop working with any rider found to have committed a crime.’
It comes after migrants living in taxpayer-funded asylum hotels were revealed to be securing work as fast food delivery riders within hours of entering Britain.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said he had found evidence of asylum seekers breaking rules which bar them from working while their claim is processed by the Home Office.
The Tory politician visited an asylum hotel in Central London and posted a video showing bicycles fitted with delivery boxes for Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats parked outside.
In a letter to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper he urged her to begin action against all three firms and ‘take urgent steps to stop illegal working from the very hotels that you are responsible for running ‘.
Separately, it emerged that Deliveroo and Just Eat delivery accounts were being offered to migrants ‘within 10 minutes of asking’ through social media groups.
Migrants were paying as little as £40 a week for other people’s login details as riders for the delivery companies – a loophole the firms pledged to address more than a year ago.
An undercover reporter posing as a small-boat arrival from Afghanistan was ‘quickly flooded with offers from all over the country’, The Sun reported.
In his letter to the Home Secretary, Mr Philp said: ‘Labour claim to be cracking down on illegal working, yet this is happening at the very hotels your Home Office is running, and which are being funding by taxpayer’s money.
‘This is important, as the ability to work illegally is a pull factor for illegal immigration and is fuelling the illegal immigration crisis.’
In separate letters to the three delivery companies he urged them to ‘commit to removing any driver as a courier who does not have the right to work in the UK, including at this hotel site and also elsewhere’.
He added: ‘I would be grateful if you would set out what further specific steps you will take (above what you currently do, which is evidently not working) in relation to this site and more generally to prevent illegal working.
‘I will be writing to the Home Secretary to urge her to take urgent action via Immigration Enforcement against your company.’
In April last year the firms agreed to close the loophole permitting riders to give jobs to ‘substitutes’ – meaning people with no right to work in the UK were able to get employment.
Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats said they would introduce additional checks on ‘account sharing’ following talks with the Home Office.
The Home Office said it amounted to a ‘significant’ change which would ‘protect the British public’s safety’ from unvetted riders.
A Downing Street spokesman said border security minister Angela Eagle will meet food delivery companies next week, adding that the Government will not stand for the ‘racket’.
He said: ‘It’s right that spotlight is being shone on this racket. It undermines honest businesses and undercuts local wages, and the British public rightly won’t stand for it, and neither will this Government.’
He said the Government has stepped up illegal working arrests and is strengthening the law to confirm immigration status and right to work.
‘Minister Eagle is meeting food delivery companies next week, where she will address this issue and to drive further joint working on tackling illegal work.’
A Just Eat spokesperson said: ‘Just Eat is committed to being a responsible partner and supporting the local communities we operate in. To uphold this commitment, we set clear standards and requirements for those who deliver on our behalf.
‘We are continuously strengthening our approach to ensure anyone who delivers through Just Eat’s platform has the right to work in the UK.
‘Last year, Just Eat introduced a new mechanism requiring couriers to inform us that they are using substitutes and for these substitutes to complete right-to-work checks.
‘We have now rolled out the next phase of substitute checks with enhanced biometric verification. Couriers are randomly prompted to complete a facial recognition test, ensuring the individual using the account’s facial data matches the right-to-work documentation held on our system. Any couriers who fail these checks are removed from the JET network.
‘We welcomed the Government announcement earlier this year to extend right-to-work checks to all industries to tackle illegal immigration. We continue to work with the Home Office on this matter.’
A spokesman for Deliveroo said: ‘We have zero tolerance for any misuse of our platform and we will offboard any accounts which fail to meet their legal obligations when working with us.
‘We have a dedicated team in place who ensure Deliveroo does not work with riders who don’t have the right to work in the UK.
‘We take our responsibility extremely seriously and are consistently strengthening our controls against misuse of our platform, with further measures in development.
‘All riders, including substitutes, must complete right-to-work checks before onboarding with Deliveroo, which we are robust in monitoring with daily identity verification and most recently, additional checks when a rider logs in using a new device.’
And an Uber spokesman said: ‘All couriers who use the Uber Eats app must undergo checks to ensure they have a legal right to work in the UK.
‘Working with the Home Office and the rest of industry, Uber Eats has launched new detection tools to crack down on anyone attempting to work illegally on our platform. As a result, we are removing fraudulent accounts and we are constantly reviewing and improving our processes.’
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘Illegal working undermines honest business and undercuts local wages – the public won’t stand for it and neither will this government.
‘That’s why we have taken swift action to launch a nationwide crackdown on illegal working, with arrests up by 51 per cent since we took office.
‘On top of that, our Borders Bill is changing the law to end the abuse of flexible working arrangements.
‘For the first time, checks that confirm someone’s immigration status and their right to work will be extended to all companies in the gig economy.