The Home Office has apologised to precast concrete contractor FP McCann and agreed to pay “substantial damages” over false allegations of illegal workers on one of its sites.

The Home Office briefed the media on a raid on on the Shotton Mill site in Deeside, north Wales in March 2024 warning that McCann could face fines of up to £225,000 after 13 people were arrested.

But within weeks McCann was issued with a “No Action Notice” from the Immigration Enforcement division of the Home Office after it was established that all its employees were suitably qualified to work in the UK.

FP McCann launched a legal action after the blunder and a settlement was reached in the High Court in Belfast yesterday.

The company said: “FP McCann, the UK and Ireland’s leading precast concrete and civil engineering solutions provider, welcomes the Home Office’s formal public apology for an entirely erroneous and unfounded allegation concerning illegal workers.”