A SWOOP by a team of UK Border Agency officials on the 99p store in Folkestone turned up nothing suspicious this morning.

The budget shop was forced to shut for an hour after six officers arrived to examine staff visa documents.

Temporary store manager Jai Vernireddi said: "I've never experienced a check like this before but everything is normal and happy.

"The Border Agency people were just checking the visa status of our staff and I was asked questions about documentation. Everything is normal."

Shopper Maggie Smithard said: "I was in there shopping at about 9.30am when the Border Agency officers came in. They asked us to put our items back on the shelves and leave the store."

Mrs Cole, who tried to enter the store as it was being locked up, said: "It was just closed without warning. No signs were put up and lots of customers were trying to get in."

The Ashford town centre store was not affected, but a spokesman admitted the Folkestone branch "was having problems".

A spokesman for the UK Border Agency said: "Our visits are intelligence-led. We visited the 99p Store in Folkestone to check the employment status of staff. All were found to be working legally and no arrests were made."

Carla Johnson, head of the agency's Kent operations, added: "Our officers are not only out to enforce immigration law but also to ensure businesses are complying with it".