Ten businesses across the county have been fined amounts ranging from £30,000 to £120,000 in illegal working civil penalties earlier this year.

The businesses have been named and shamed by Immigration Enforcement in the UK as part of a national list of employers fined from April to June.

Pearl and Pebbles in Lascelles Terrace, Eastbourne (Image: Google Maps)

In Sussex, eight businesses were fined for illegal working penalties from April 1 to June 30. They were:

• Performance Valeting, Phyllis Avenue in Peacehaven – £30,000
• Spice Garden, Church Street in Eastbourne – £30,000
• Pearl and Pebbles, Lascelles Terrace in Eastbourne – £45,000
• Blue India, Crawley High Street – £45,000
• Peri Peri Original, Broadwalk in Crawley – £45,000
• Express Car Wash, London Road in Crawley – £90,000
• Agra Indian Takeaway, Commercial Square in Haywards Heath – £40,000
• Golden Panda, West Street in Storrington – £120,000

In total, £445,000 in fines were issued to businesses in Sussex.

Two other businesses in Brighton were also fined £50,000 between them in the latest round of penalties.

Illegal working civil penalties are handed out when businesses employ someone who does not have the right to work in the UK and did not do the correct checks or did not do them properly.

Express Car Wash in London Road, Crawley (Image: Google Maps)

Businesses that are found to have done this are handed a referral notice and may be fined up to £60,000 per illegal worker.

Workers may not have the right to work in the UK if they do not have the permission to enter or remain in the country, or this leave has expired.

Workers may also not be allowed to do certain types of work, or their papers may be incorrect or false.

Any business found to have knowingly employed someone without the right to work in the UK can be sent to prison for five years or face an unlimited fine.