AN asylum seeker who duped factory bosses into giving him a job is on the run.

The unnamed man, who had been working at Grampian Country Foods - the former Malton Bacon Factory - in Norton, North Yorkshire, fled as immigration officers prepared to arrest him.

He is thought to have tricked bosses into employing him, despite not having a proper work permit.

A Home Office spokeswoman said police had gone to arrest him after it emerged that his application to stay in the country had been rejected.

"When they arrived at his home, they found the man was not there," she said. "After a search of the property, officers found pay slips indicating he was working at Grampian Country Foods.

"The factory did not realise he was a failed asylum seeker and co-operated fully with immigration police."