Three Merseyside businesses have been fined over employing illegal workers.
The sanctions were handed down as part of a Home Office investigation into people working without permission between April and September last year.
Nearly 500 penalties were imposed nationally at a combined cost of £29.2 million after 771 illegal workers were found to be under employment.
One person was found to be working illegally at Blade Barbers in Waterloo, leaving to the business being issued with a £40,000 penalty.
Capital Auto Wash, which is based in Liverpool One’s Q-Park, were fined double that amount for employing two ineligible workers at time of inspection.
Aram Supermarket in London Road was also hit with a fine of £45,000 after one person was found to be working illegally at the premises.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Organised immigration crime is a multi-million pound industry which stretches from the trafficking routes thousands of miles away through which people are brought to our country, to the high streets across the United Kingdom where many of those people end up working illegally.
“As part of our Plan for Change, this government is cracking down on that criminal industry at every level where illegal working is taking place, and increasing our enforcement action both against illegal workers and the people who employ them.”