Byron Burger invite foreign staff to training day where they are confronted by immigration officials who deport 35

Byron Burger invite foreign staff to training day where they are confronted by immigration officials who deport 35.

Byron Burger was today accused of organising a training day where foreign staff were confronted by border agents who then deported dozens of them from the UK.

Workers from at least 15 restaurants were called to the event in London on July 4 only to discover the meeting was about their right to work in the UK.

Panicked staff then apparently asked a manager what was going on and got the reply: 'We know what's going on here. We prepared this', according to Spanish news website El Iberico.

Two Border Force officials carrying lists and photos called employees into a room one-by-one and 35 people from Brazil, Albania, Egypt and Nepal were arrested and later deported for working in the UK illegally.

It is understood the workers had fake documents which they had shown their bosses at Byron to prove their 'right to work' in the UK.

But the ruse has led to an angry reaction on social media.

According to the campaign group 'SHAME on BYRON - No one is Illegal' 150 Byron staff have now gone into hiding.

Protesters are calling for people to boycott the popular chain - known as the the bourgeois Burger King - over the border row, with pickets planned for branches in London and Bristol.

A Facebook page set up to support the workers says Byron had 'used' the people for years before handing them over to the Home Office.

The Shame on Byron group say on their Facebook page: 'Those deported were mostly Latin American workers. It is not clear what kind of shock and hardship their families in London are now experiencing, or whether the workers were paid their wages or any monies owed by the company.

'Some of the deported workers had worked for Byron for four years. Byron were happy to use them all that time and then discard them and ruin lives overnight.

Mr Osborne had sought to portray himself as a 'man of the people' but it backfired on him when critics spotted the meal was from the boutique burger chain.

'Well McDonald's doesn't deliver, I was working late in the office,' said Mr Osborne later, in his defence.

The chain has 60 restaurants, 37 in London, and 1,300 employees and made £5million profit last year after a rapid expansion.

Byron Burger told: 'We can confirm that several of Byron's London restaurants were visited by representatives of the Home Office.

'These visits resulted in the removal of members of staff who are suspected by the Home Office of not having the right to work in the UK, and of possessing fraudulent personal and right to work documentation that is in breach of immigration and employment regulation.

At Byron we are proud of the diversity of our restaurant teams, built around people of all backgrounds and all walks of life Byron Burger

'The Home Office recognises that Byron as an employer is fully compliant with immigration and asylum law in its employment practices, and that Byron had carried out the correct 'right to work' checks on staff members, but had been shown false/counterfeit documentation.'

The statement goes on to say: 'At Byron we are proud of the diversity of our restaurant teams, built around people of all backgrounds and all walks of life.

'We have co-operated fully and acted upon the Home Office's requests throughout the course of the investigations leading to this action, and will continue to do so.'

A Home Office spokesman said: 'Immigration Enforcement officers carried out intelligence-led visits to a number of Byron restaurants across London on 4 July, arresting 35 people for immigration offences.

'The operation was carried out with the full co-operation of the business.'