THE owners of town fish and chip shop Queens have successfully won their appeal against a £40,000 penalty for an alleged immigration breach.

The popular Rockfield Road fish bar was raided in July 2025, with police in attendance.

But after the announcement of a £40,000 civil penalty in the Home Office's latest quarterly immigration enforcement report, Grey Beards Ltd, owners of the fish and chip shop, disputed the civil penalty, telling the Beacon: "A formal objection was submitted to the Home Office on 13 February 2026, together with supporting documentation.

“Following consideration of our objection and a review of the evidence, the Home Office concluded that Grey Beards Ltd was not liable for the civil penalty. The £40,000 penalty was therefore cancelled in full and the case has been closed.

“We are obviously very pleased that the matter has finally been resolved in our favour.

“However, the process has had a significant impact on our business and has been extremely upsetting.

“Following publication of the original story, we received accusations that we were employing people illegally, as well as racist comments directed towards us.”

The Home Office confirmed that the civil penalty has been cancelled saying :”The information published on the Non-Compliant List was accurate at the time of publication and reflected the outcome of the case based on the information then available.

“Following a subsequent review and consideration of additional evidence received after the appeal period had expired, the decision was made to withdraw the civil penalty issued to Grey Beards Ltd.

“As a result, Grey Beards Ltd is no longer liable for the civil penalty, and its details have been removed from the Non-Compliant List.”

At the same time, a Monmouth fruit and veg shop in the Oldway Centre that was handed a £45,000 penalty by Home Office Immigration Enforcement has seemingly not traded since the penalty was revealed.

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