POLICE arrested six illegal immigrants during a raid on a luxury hotel.

The swoop was carried out by Northumbria Police and the North-East Immigration Service on the New Northumbria Hotel, in Jesmond, Newcastle, last Thursday.

They found six Bulgarians - three men and three women, working in the kitchen - and took them for questioning by immigration officials.

Five were found to be illegal immigrants and another was working illegally. They are now waiting to be deported.

The immigration service has declined to say how long the immigrants had been working at the hotel.

News of the raid follows Home Secretary David Blunkett's announcement last week of plans to get tough on illegal immigrants and the people who hire them.