ILLEGAL immigrants seized during a raid at an Ipswich restaurant have been deported from the country, it emerged today.Immigration officers arrested 14 illegal immigrants from China and Malaysia at the Temptation Chinese Buffet restaurant in Carr Street in November.

ILLEGAL immigrants seized during a raid at an Ipswich restaurant have been deported from the country, it emerged today.

Immigration officers arrested 14 illegal immigrants from China and Malaysia at the Temptation Chinese Buffet restaurant in Carr Street in November.

The Border and Immigration Agency (BIA) today said that the immigrants from Malaysia had now been deported.

They added that steps were under way to remove the Chinese “as soon as possible”.

The news came as the agency revealed that 20 illegal immigrants were deported from the east of England every week during the last nine months of 2007.

Gail Adams, BIA regional director, said: “We are determined to stamp out illegal immigration.

“That's why there are very strict rules about who can live and work in the UK and it's becoming much harder to break them.”