A group of Indian men who were working illegally on a building site will be deported.

The nine men were arrested in Crawley following a raid by the Border and Immigration Agency.

Twenty immigration officers dressed in stab vests visited a construction site at the Crown Plaza Hotel on Langley Drive.

They raided the site last Monday after being tipped-off by people were working there illegally.

Officers sealed the area to make sure nobody escaped and questioned around 40 workers and checked their identity documents.

The men, who had been working as labourers on the hotel extension, were taken to Chichester and Croydon police stations for questioning.

The Border and Immigration Agency has begun taking steps to remove them from the country.

The workers were supplied by three companies named by the Border and Immigration Agency as Kerai Construction Ltd, M and N Builders Ltd and Jesani Interiors Ltd.

The businesses could be prosecuted if the Agency finds they knowingly employed illegal workers.

Paul Fitzgerald, general manager of the Crown Plaza, said the workers were employed by subcontractors and not by the hotel.

Tony Smith, the Border and Immigration Agency's regional director for London and the South East, said: "We have very strict rules about working in the UK.

"If you don't meet the requirements, you can't get a job.

"Around 50 enforcement operations are being carried out every week in London and the South East, so if you're working without permission you're likely to get caught and be removed from the country.

"If we find evidence that it's the employers acting illegally, they face the threat of prosecution, a hefty fine or even prison."

Last month immigration officials raided a Chinese restaurant in Eastbourne and deported a Malaysian man.

Officers busted the Great Wall restaurant and takeaway in Pevensey Road and found two employees who had no right to work in the UK.

The raids come at a time of reform to the immigration system.

If employers are found to be breaking the law, they will lose the right to recruit from outside the European Union.

Kerai Construction Ltd, M and N Builders Ltd and Jesani Interiors Ltd were unavailable for comment.