
A branch of Byron was forced to close after campaigners lined the pavement outside to protest the company's role in an immigration 'sting' which saw dozens of its workers rounded up.

More than 100 Left-wing demonstrators lined the pavements and waved banners outside the restaurant in Holborn, Central London.

Byron had earlier pleaded with protesters to respect the safety of customers and staff after activists said they released thousands of insects - including locusts and cockroaches - into the burger chain's Central St Giles and Holborn branches on Friday evening.

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Police officers moved protesters who were blocking the road at a demo outside the Byron Burger restaurant in Holborn, London

Demonstrators held up placards, 'in solidarity with workers regardless of nationality or immigration status'

Protesters held placards outside a Byron restaurant in Holborn, central London, as they took part in the demonstration

Protesters accused Byron of carrying out 'underhand entrapment' after 35 workers from Albania, Brazil, Mexico, Nepal and Egypt were held after being lured to early-morning raids on the pretext of attending staff meetings.

So far 25 have been deported. And with firms attracting a maximum penalty of £20,000 per illegal worker, Byron was facing a fine of £700,000 - but it evaded the penalty by colluding in the sting.

More than 1,000 people were set to attend the demonstration outside the burger branch.

A Facebook page about the protest said: 'Byron have acted shamefully and have made an example of themselves as a deeply disrespectful employer.

'Our protest aims to shine a spotlight on this unethical behaviour, deter it from happening anywhere else, and to support workers still working at the restaurants to resist exploitation.'

Last week, the Home Office said 35 people were arrested for immigration offences at a number of restaurants across London, following an operation carried out with the 'full co-operation' of Byron in July.

The burger business carried out the correct 'right to work' checks on staff members, but had been shown false or counterfeit documentation, and will therefore not face civil penalty action, the Home Office said.

Dozens of police officers were at the scene last night and had to move some campaigners off the road

'Shameful': The burger chain has been met with the scorn of outraged protesters, campaigning for those workers hit in the 'sting'

Thousands gathered to protest against the burger chain, accusing it of carrying out 'underhand entrapment' of its workers

The Home Office said 35 people from Albania, Brazil, Nepal and Egypt were arrested for immigration offences at a number of restaurants across London

A statement was read to the crowd from a chef working in a Byron restaurant who had been taken away 'in the most brutal way' and has been deported

A statement was read to the crowd from a chef working in a Byron restaurant who had been taken away 'in the most brutal way' and has been deported.

It read: 'It made me feel like I never had before. My heart was completely broken about everything.

'They destroyed my family. We were a family but they took some piece of me.

'I've been crying loads and loads thinking about them. I was like, 'Oh my God, look after them'.

'I can't do anything but pray. It was really horrible.'

Protester Lola, 25, criticised Byron for its 'dishonesty' and said the chain could have put undocumented workers in touch with specialist organisations.

'They could have warned them,' she said.

'Instead of trapping them and lying to them, they could have said, 'this is what is going to happen if you get caught. You are going to be deported. You are not going to be given time to speak to your families or get your belongings'.

'They could have warned them instead of inhumanely just calling the cops on them as if they were like animals.'

The crowd were undeterred by the rain as they chanted 'Shame on Byron - no-one is illegal' and 'How do you want your burgers? Without deportation'.

'Grassed up by its own staff': When they arrived at outlets across the capital, immigration officials turned up with documents containing staff names and photographs and started to interview them

Police officers stood guard outside the Holborn chain last night to ward off any violence

Protester Lola, 25, criticised Byron for its 'dishonesty' and said the chain could have put undocumented workers in touch with specialist organisations

The burger chain said: 'Byron was unaware that any of our workers were in possession of counterfeit documentation until the Home Office brought it to our attention'

Protest co-ordinator Ewa Jasiewicz, of Unite's hotel workers' branch, criticised the company's 'unacceptable' role in the deportations

Outraged campaigners held placards with the slogan, 'No human is illegal' as they staged their protest in London last night

Attending last night’s protest were an assortment of far-Left groups describing themselves as ‘anti-racism, anti-discrimination and anti-sexism’.

United Voices of the World Union consists of migrants of mostly Latin American descent working in low-paid jobs such as cleaning.

Other organisations include London Latinxs – a ‘direct action’ group describing itself as ‘radically anti-discrimination’ and also mostly made up of Latin Americans.

Meanwhile, Global Justice Now wants to ‘mobilise the UK to create a more just and equal world’.

War on Want targets the ‘root causes of poverty and human rights violation, as part of the worldwide movement for global justice’.

Lesbian and Gays Support the Migrants is a movement that ‘challenges the Right-wing media narrative’ around immigration.

Protest coordinator Ewa Jasiewicz, of Unite's hotel workers' branch, criticised the company's 'unacceptable' role in the deportations.

She said: 'The law doesn't tell Byron to entrap workers, to lure them into a trap, to trick them into coming into work when actually they are being raided and they are going to be deported.

'A responsible employer that values the people that work for them, that make them their profits, would actually support them to get the right papers, to help them stay.

'They were literally discarded like bags of rubbish. It's completely unacceptable. How they behaved might have been legal but it's not ethical.'

Ms Jasiewicz added: 'From the way they behave, we really doubt the kind of employer they are in terms of respecting workers' rights. They need to clean up their act.'

#BoycottByron: Under the #BoycottByron banner on Twitter, many vented their disgust at the chain’s handling of the issue

The first insider account of the sting revealed how workers were summoned to a meeting about the dangers of cooking burgers medium and medium-rare

One employee, who did not want to be named, told the Daily Mail staff were asked to arrive at work at 9.30am despite the fact that most Byron branches open at 11.30am - before the 'sting' unravelled

The burger chain said in a statement: 'In response to the recent Home Office investigation, we would like to reiterate the following.

'Byron was unaware that any of our workers were in possession of counterfeit documentation until the Home Office brought it to our attention.

'We carry out rigorous 'right to work' checks, but sophisticated counterfeit documentation was used in order to pass these checks.

'We have cooperated fully and acted upon the Home Office's requests and processes throughout the course of their investigations: it is our legal obligation to do so.

'We have also worked hard to ensure minimal impact on our customers while this operation was underway'.

Byron in Holborn, pictured, and Shaftesbury Avenue were both forced to shut due to the swarm of insects