A third of delivery drivers arrested in a national Home Office sting were operating in south London, new figures show.
The Home Office said 171 delivery riders were arrested over seven days in November for illegal working as part of Operation Equalise, an operation to crack down on delivery riders working illegally in the gig economy.
In new data shared with The i Paper, it can be revealed that 56 of those arrested were drivers in south London.
South London had the highest number of illegal delivery rider arrests with a third of arrests taking place in the region.
Scotland and Central London had the second and third most arrests with 17 illegal delivery workers arrested in Scotland and 15 arrested in Central London.
Of the 171 illegal delivery workers arrested, over half were identified as Indian or Pakistani nationals, with 94 arrested.
The Home Office said the “enforcement blitz” in towns, villages and cities across the country is part of the Government’s crackdown on people working illegally in the gig economy.
The border security minister, Alex Norris, said at the time: “These results should send a clear message: if you are working illegally in this country, you will be arrested and removed.
“We are tightening the law to clamp down on illegal working in the delivery sector to root out this criminality from our communities.”
Others arrested included two Chinese nationals apprehended at a restaurant in Solihull, West Midlands, four riders of Bangladeshi and Indian nationality in Newham, east London, and three Indian delivery riders in Norwich, Norfolk.
Video footage released by the Home Office shows officers escorting an arrested man into the back of an immigration enforcement van, and arresting another man by his bike in the street.
Food delivery companies including Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats have been urged to go further to tackle illegal workers.
The Government has urged the companies to increase randomised facial recognition checks to tackle account sharing and prevent riders sharing their identities with people who do not have permission to take up work in the UK.
In the previous 12 months, 8,000 illegal workers were arrested for unlawful working, a 63 per cent rise on the previous 12-month period.
The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act introduces new laws to expand right to work checks to the gig economy, including on delivery riders.
Asylum seekers do not have a right to work in the UK during their first 12 months in the country but can volunteer if they wish to.
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A spokesperson for Just Eat said: “Just Eat is fully committed to tackling any attempts to provide delivery services illegally via our platform – all couriers must have the right to work in the UK.
“We have substantially strengthened our systems against abuse, including introducing daily facial recognition checks, and checks that are triggered when a new device is used to log in.
“We continue to work closely with the Home Office and industry partners to identify and address any potential methods of evading checks, as well as collaborating on data sharing and enforcement.”
A spokesperson for Deliveroo said: “We support the Government’s enforcement activity, and remain committed to collaborating with the Home Office and wider industry to collectively tackle this issue.”
Uber Eats was also approached for comment.
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