Twenty illegal workers have been arrested after being found working on a construction site at a power station in Cheshire.

Immigration officials swooped on the Capenhurst site near Ellesmere Port and questioned 20 Indian men aged between 25 and 50 during Monday morning.

Eleven of those arrested were transferred to immigration detention pending removal from the UK, whilst the remainder have been ordered to report to the Home Office regularly while steps are taken to remove them.

The visit was carried out with the full cooperation of the construction company working at the site. The illegal workers were all employed by a separate sub-contractor, Sword Construction.

Sword Construction will be served a notice warning that financial penalties of up to £20,000 per illegal worker arrested will be imposed unless the employer can demonstrate that appropriate right to work document checks were carried out, such as seeing a passport or Home Office document. If proof is not provided, this is a potential total of up to £400,000.

Karen McDonough, of the Merseyside Home Office Immigration Enforcement team, said: “Our specialist teams carry out regular operations in Cheshire and anyone who is in the UK illegally faces arrest, detention and removal from the country.

“Illegal working defrauds the taxpayer, undercuts honest businesses and cheats legitimate job seekers out of employment opportunities.

“We rely on information from the public and I would urge people to report suspected immigration abuse to us.”

Related: Can you pass the UK Citizenship test?

Who was arrested?

A 50-year-old found to have overstayed his visit visa.

A 30-year-old found to have overstayed his visit visa.

A 33-year-old found to have overstayed his visit visa.

A 35-year-old with no visa and no evidence of his leave to enter the UK.

A 31-year-old found to have overstayed his Tier 4 dependant visa.

A 42-year-old found to have overstayed his visit visa.

A 27-year-old found to have overstayed his Tier 4 student visa.

A 33-year-old with no visa and no evidence of his leave to enter the UK.

A 23-year-old found to have overstayed his Tier 4 student visa.

A 27-year-old found to have overstayed his Tier 4 dependant visa.

A 27-year-old found to have overstayed his visit visa.

A 39-year-old found to have overstayed his visit visa.

A 22-year-old found to have overstayed his visit visa.

A 30-year-old found to have overstayed his visit visa.

A 35-year-old found to have overstayed his working holiday visa.

A 43-year-old found to have overstayed his visit visa.

A 27-year-old found to have overstayed his working holiday visa.

A 35-year-old with no visa and no evidence of his leave to enter the UK.

A 35-year-old found to have overstayed his visit visa.

A 32-year-old found to have overstayed his Tier 4 dependant visa.