A raid by the UK Border Agency took place on Tuesday night at popular King Street eatery Yippee Noodle Bar.

The pan-Asian restaurant, now under threat of potential fines of up to £50,000, was visited by Border Agency officers shortly after the restaurant opened on Tuesday evening. Staff checks revealed that five members of staff were in the UK illegally, and did not have permission to work.

The five men, all Chinese and ranging in age from 23 to 38, are chefs at the restaurant.

The Home Office Border Agency said in a statement that three of the men were failed asylum seekers and two were illegal entrants into the UK.

While the Border Agency claims to be taking steps to remove four of the men from the country, the youngest has been arrested and remanded in custody under suspicion of ID offences.

However, a source from the restaurant, which was open on Wednesday night after having failed to open for afternoon trade, claimed that the group were, in fact, not allowed to leave Cambridge, nor to work, and had to report to the police station on a regular basis.

The restaurant also stated that some of the accused staff had been working there for nine years, since the noodle bar opened. They also claimed that although they had their asylum seeker papers, the change in the law last year, demanding a sponsor licence for non-European Union workers, meant that they were no longer allowed to work.

According to them, it is due to this change, and the incorporated new civil penalty system, that Yippee may have to pay fines up to the sum of £50,000. The charges, brought in by the Border Agency during February 2008, some months before the new sponsorship legislation, target employers who fail to carry out proper checks on migrant workers, with fines of up to £10,000 per illegal worker.

The restaurant’s closure Wednesday at lunchtime was, Yippee claimed, due to a shortage of staff. However, yesterday a sign was stuck onto the window of the closed restaurant informing customers that, “Due to technical issues, Yippee will remain closed until further notice. Sorry for any inconvenience caused”.

This incident takes place only a month after a similar situation at popular Quayside Japanese restaurant Teri-Aki, when eight illegal migrant workers were found, causing the restaurant to face fines of £40,000.