Immigration enforcement officers spotted at Worthing’s Aquarena site

Immigration officers were spotted at the Aquarena construction site in Worthing this morning (March 26).
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A number of officers, along with the police, were seen at the former swimming pool site in Brighton Road.

A spokesman for the Home Office said: “I can confirm that we are on the site. It is an ongoing situation, further details will be disclosed as soon as possible.”

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Sussex Police confirmed officers assisted in a Home Office-led operation at the site.

Police outside the Aquerena construction site in Worthing this morning (March 26)Police outside the Aquerena construction site in Worthing this morning (March 26)
Police outside the Aquerena construction site in Worthing this morning (March 26)

Contractors on behalf of Roffey Homes started work on the plot in November 2017 – a £45million development of 141 homes and commercial space.

Ben Cheal, managing director for Roffey Homes, said: “Westbrooke Developments, part of the Roffey Homes Group, is committed to ethical practice and we only employ local people and have done for over 40 years.

“All our employees live in Sussex and have been checked for eligibility to work in the UK.

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“Our site management require details of all project workers to ensure they are qualified to work on site. If anyone fails this test they do not come on site.”

Mr Cheal added the visit immigration officials made to the site relates to a contractor not based in Sussex.

He said: “This sub-contractor is responsible for carrying out their own checks before sending their labour to site.

“Although it is their responsibility to carry out thorough checks on their workforce, we shall review what additional procedures we can implement to ensure that only those who are legally allowed to work on our site are able to do so.”