National Gallery staff held in immigration swoop

Eleven staff at the National Gallery have been arrested and may be deported after a swoop by the Immigration Service, the Standard can reveal.

The raid found two failed asylum seekers and a mixture of illegal workers and overstayers at Britain's national collection of fine art.

Nine of the workers were contract staff in restaurants or shops and two were employed directly by the Gallery as warders.

Six Brazilians, three Ecuadoreans and one Nigerian were detained in the operation, which saw 60 immigration officers raid the Trafalgar Square gallery on 19 January. Authorities were today working to establish the nationality of an 11th worker.

A statement from the Home Office last night said: "Eleven people were arrested on immigration offences. They are being detained for further questioning. We would seek to remove anyone who does not have the right to be in the country." The Nat ional Gallery last night confirmed the raid, saying it "complied with the legal requirements of the Immigration Services, as any employer would".

The story emerged thanks to a disaffected warder who emailed the Standard anonymously to complain about working conditions at the institution.

He wrote: "The Home Office sent approximately 60 men to detain around 11 of our staff because they had either illegal passports or their work permits had expired."

The correspondent questioned security at the gallery, saying there should be three- month checks on potential staff members.

Among his catalogue of complaints, the warder states: "We are constantly being hounded, hassled and spied on

... we are in fact being bullied by our employers."

He claims that warders are not allowed to talk, saying: "It is not acceptable that we have to be treated like schoolchildrenbut that is the mentality of the whole place."

He adds: "They want us to spend eight hours a day in complete silence, not even holding conversations with the public, even though we are at the front line of contact and enquiries.

"If they want us to be silent and motionless, fair enough, we'll just turn into zombies and point rudely in the direction [patrons] want ... A lot of us would just love to burn the place down."

The ga l lery told the Standard it was " disappointed" in the unknown whistleblower.

In a statement it said: "The National Gallery places a very high value on its warding staff. They do an important job and do it well, as was shown throughout the successful Raphael exhibition.

"When staff have concerns we try to address them, and we have established procedures for doing so.

"It is disappointing to find a list of concerns made anonymously."