KENT and Medway employers who take on illegal immigrants could face up to two years in prison under legislation.

Migrant workers in the county often work in fruit-picking, but their employment is also widespread as packers in industrial firms and as lorry drivers.

New penalties brought in by the Border and Immigration Agency from Feburary 29 mean any UK employer who knowingly takes on an illegal immigrant could face two years in jail and unlimited fines.

An employer who unwittingly takes on such workers could be fined £10,000.

Recruitment companies providing temporary and permanent staff in the county are required to make full checks on all staff they process.

Georgie Ford, operations director at recruitment company Apex Recruitment, in Lower Stone Street, Maidstone, said: "We have always had to do stringent checks and will continue to do so.

"These include checks of passport, birth certificate, visas if applicable, national insurance number if they have one, proof of address and so on."

"If we were not sure that the papers were right we would ring the Border and Immigration Agency."

Dee Weir, spokesman for Kent-based recruitment company HRGO said: "We already have very stringent registration processes in place for all temporary or permanent assignments.

"We have circulated a guidance document to our group to re-emphasise what should be done and what types of document should be checked."

A spokesman for the Border and Immigration Agency said employers should be vigilant to ensure all the required paperwork was in place before taking on staff.

He said: "As of February 29 there are new penalties for those people who employ illegal workers.

"Firstly, if employers don’t make the proper checks and then it turns out they are unknowingly employing someone who has no right to work here they can be fined a civil penalty of up to £10,000.

"In the second instance, where an employer is found to be knowingly employing an illegal immigrant, this would be dealt with as a criminal offence. They could be imprisoned for up to two years and face unlimited fines."

The Border and Immigration Agency is running a marketing campaign aimed at making sure employers are aware of the new penalties.

Other new changes include a scheme under which highly-skilled foreign workers who want to extend their stay will be subject to a new Australian-style points-based system to assess how valuable they are to the country.