Walk along Seven Sisters Road in Tottenham and chances are you will see an inordinate amount of men waiting around.

Ask them and they'll say they are waiting for a bus. Drive up to them in a transit van and they'll say they are anything you need them to be.

London builders are taking on these illegal immigrants as they offer labour at such a low cost.

Many of them will ask as little as £40 for a full day's work. Many of them will claim to be brickies, plasterers, tilers and other trades, but you have no way of confirming that.

They will claim they have years of experience working in mainland Europe and will reel off a prepared portfolio of jobs they have been involved in. While many may be telling the truth, there is no way to verify them.

The people who live on the road have complained that the men waiting around become unsociable if they don't get picked up. Many have complained that they start drinking as early as 7.30 as the work traffic slows down. I watched some as a couple of white vans pulled up outside the store. There was instantly a clamour of men around the window as they all tried to get noticed, and get work.

Get to around 8.00 am and these vans stop coming. There are plenty of men still left around and now they begin chatting amongst themselves and making noise. Local business say the men travel from across the city to work for London builders who pass by. Rather than spending money, they are accused of intimidating passers-by, and putting off potential customers.

When the vans have gone, the picture changes. Rather than standing up straight, looking bright eyed and bushy tailed in case work comes their way, they slouch, lean against walls and stand in doorways. The atmosphere becomes leaden and bottles and cans begin appearing from bags. It's funny that however poor some people are, they can still afford their drink.

The problem in this particular spot has become so bad over the past year that the police have put a dispersal order on the area. This give the police the power to move the men on, but I never saw any police while I was there. A local I spoke to said the police patrol occasionally and disperse the groups, but as soon as the police are gone, they come back again.

London builders have a lot to do with this. If they didn't use illegal workers, there wouldn't be this problem. The urge to cut costs, to save a few pounds here and there has spawned a mini-industry that not only affects the livelihood of legitimate tradesmen, it also affects the lives of those living near these assembly areas.

That's nothing compared to the kind of quality of work these men do on our properties, while we pay for qualified tradesmen. While it's probably true that some of these men just genuinely want to work and have the skills, there are many more who are saying what needs to be said to make a day's wage.


More London Builder Advice

You can maintain your blog by logging in to your Bravenet account. Once you are logged in you can customize the layout, colors, and features. In addition, you can add your own links, edit your profile, add your friends, and change many other options to personalize your blog.

Once you begin using your blog, you can view statistics in your members area to see how many people are reading your blog as well as where they come from.

We hope you enjoy your Blog. Be sure to tell all your friends about this great new service from Bravenet!