Business and unions have been urged to help stamp out illegal working.

Home Office ministers will meet with bosses, key unions and the Commission for Racial Equality to tackle the growing problem of illegal immigrants being used as cheap labour.

The government has been alarmed by the use of immigrant workers in the building trade and on farms, where they are often paid at well below the minimum wage.

The group, which includes the Construction Skills Certification Scheme, the NFU, Marks and Spencer and the Health and Safety Executive will meet with Home Office minister Beverley Hughes.

Ahead of the meeting Hughes highlighted the government's concern that illegal working was fuelling both the black economy and the trade in people smuggling.

"The government is determined to deal with illegal working, which fuels the underground economy and creates unfair competition," she said.

"It often involves dangerous and clandestine entry and leaves workers vulnerable to dangerous conditions, poor pay and exploitation from unscrupulous employers and criminal trafficking gangs."