Five Kent Chinese and Indian restaurants have been fined a total of £45,000 for hiring illegal immigrants.

The UK Borders Agency (UKBA)took the extraordinary step to publish the list of company names and employers in an attempt to crack down on people smuggling.

Restaurants and take-aways fined in the county last month were:

Lee’s Chinese Takeaway in Ashford had a £15,000 fine for employing two illegal migrant workers.

Taj of Kent, in Tonbridge, and Chinese restaurant Friendly 8 in Beckenham were each given £10,000 fines for employing two illegal migrants.

Mumtaz Mahul Tandoori Restaurant in Cranbrook and the Raj Pavilion in Tunbridge Wells were fined £5,000 for each employing one illegal worker.

The restaurants were on a list of 35 firms in England published on the UKBA’s website in total, alongside 37 directors.

They were fined a total of almost £303,000 for employing 56 illegal workers.

The news came as Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced a radical overhaul in the way immigration issues are tackled.

The country's 7,500 UKBA officers and staff will be reorganised into 70 to 80 immigration teams.

The teams form part of the government's new list of priorities, which include: