NO CHARGES have been brought against a local farmer accused of employing illegal immigrants - and he has been praised for his record keeping.

In one of the biggest operations of its kind in the South West for over a decade, around 50 immigration and police officers were involved in the operation at Merrifield Farm, just outside Crediton last Wednesday, July 1.

The widely publicised raid by the UK Border Agency and Devon and Cornwall Police saw workers taken from the farm and a notice issued to the employer, Peter Coleman, to produce the workers documentation or face a possible fine of up to £10,000 per worker.

This week, Peter Coleman described the dawn raid at Merrifield Farm as a "sledgehammer to crack a walnut".

Mr Coleman issued a statement this week which said that all staff at Merrifield Farm are paid at the rate determined by the Agricultural Wages Board because they are working to process an agricultural product reared at the farm and other farms.

He said there is no discrimination at all, emphasising that everyone is paid under the same structure. He continued: "I take exception to suggestions that we have been paying any workers a lower rate because this is absolutely untrue.

"We have never made any deviation from the Agricultural Wages Board directive irrespective of what nationality the worker is. All are paid the same."

He added: "When we are recruiting, priority is given to British workers. But as long as our Government is so generous with the benefits system, work will be less attractive to some, than staying at home doing nothing. We therefore have to employ foreign workers if there are no British applicants.

"We tried to recruit British last year because the business was expanding. We approached the job centre. We offered employment to 58 out of the 59 people that applied, 55 of which were British - four were unsuitable and asked to leave, five are still with us. The other 46 found the job not to their liking and left or did not turn up in the first place.

"In order to fill the vacancies, friends and relations of the existing, mainly European staff, were invited to join us.

"Twenty other farms are rearing chicken for us at present, providing employment for many others.

"As to the highly publicised events of July 1, the operation by the Police was carried out efficiently and created as little disturbance as possible.

"But I would ask that if there is a repeat of the operation that the processing plant could be shut down in a systematic way with consultation with our family, rather than just being stopped in an arbitrary and unskilled manner by the authorities.

"The Police scrutinised our records commenting that we had made every attempt to compile the necessary information and that our record keeping was good.

"After examination of the paper and computer records the Police decided that no further action was necessary.

"We are now actively engaged with the Police and Immigration Authorities to improve our methods of screening potential employees from whatever country.

"The net result of the operation here at Merrifield was that 12 workers were detained, the vast majority of which have been released back into the community.

"We have always preferred to recruit British workers, because, if nothing else, it is easier and quicker to communicate what you want them to do, but, as I have said, British workers have not been interested in the work we have to offer them.

"The business was expanding and we needed help so we had no alternative but to employ foreign workers doing the very best we could to ensure their legitimacy."

Mr Coleman admitted that three were found with forged French passports and some were discovered with documents which were not legitimate but this was only discovered by the UK Border Agency during their investigation.

He suggested that the Government onus of clamping down of the employer was flawed and that this could be solved if there was a national database of all legally employable immigrant workers which could be accessed by potential employers.

alan-quick@crediton

couriernewspaper.co.uk