Angry delivery drivers say migrants working illegally have halved their wages and that security measures to ensure riders have the right to work in Britain are hugely flawed.

Following an Express investigation that revealed asylum seekers were brazenly doing fast food delivery work at a Home Office-funded hotel in central London, the Labour Government demanded that courier platforms such as JustEat and Deliveroo improve their systems.

However, we found illegal workers were already mocking these efforts in WhatsApp groups where courier accounts are bought and sold.

“There will always be a way,” one user wrote in response to the crackdown. Another shared videos of a recent small boat migrant crossing and added “here come more riders”.

The Express has also seen firsthand how the technology currently used by the platforms is ineffective at preventing illegal workers bypassing identity checks.

Just Eat’s facial recognition security measure can be bypassed simply by swiping back on the phone, while Deliveroo’s tool only asks for a photograph at the start of a shift.

"I've seen drivers getting their face scan [done] by other people. At that point, they can just go and freely work for the rest of the day," said delivery driver Edward John Charles Betts, 36.

“I [asked] can we bring in some [effective] face identification just to sort this out and I was told many times like ‘yeah we'll do that’ but then it never happened.

“Within about two weeks of starting the job [five years ago] I [could see] that there were a lot of illegal workers from different parts of the world [and] it’s just got worse and worse.”

Responding to the Express’s findings, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp MP said tougher action was needed to end illegal working.

“This is a very serious issue because illegal working is a pull factor for illegal immigration into the UK - people smugglers actually advertise it,” he said.

“It endangers women and girls as deliveries are made to their homes by unidentified recent illegal immigrants, often from nationalities we know have very high rates of sex offending.”

Reform UK's Lee Anderson MP suggested the problems were reflective of the UK’s soft touch.

He said: "This scandal screams everything that’s wrong with Labour’s weak, woke Britain.

“It’s a slap in the face to honest delivery drivers who play by the rules, only to see their wages depressed and jobs snatched by those exploiting the system.”

According to numerous delivery drivers we spoke to, an unchecked influx of illegal workers also caused rider fees to plummet for legitimate couriers.

“Four years ago, the minimum that you got [paid for a delivery] was £4.50 and that was for the short trips. Now the minimum I've seen is £2.60, that's nearly [a] 50 per cent reduction,” Lubomir Konakchiiski, 33, told the Express

“The [longer the distance] the more the price drops, that doesn't make any sense because the cost of everything [has increased]. Everything's triple the price, my insurance cost is a lot more and petrol prices [have gone up].”

Konakchiiski said he quit working as a deliveryman because it was no longer affordable and questioned how anyone could feasibly work legitimately for so little money.

“The minimum wage is £12.50. So I need to do five jobs just to get to this [but] in some cases you wait 20 minutes to pick up the order. So, what, do two jobs for five pounds?”

He was one of many drivers who feared illegal workers posed a safety threat. Children would often answer the doors to couriers alone and disabled people invited them into their houses.

The Express has been made aware of at least four cases where sex offenders, including a paedophile convicted of horrific crimes, have been working for major delivery platforms.

"If [a] person is coming illegally [they could have] done something very wrong in the past like raped a child or armed robbery,” Konakchiiski added.

“This is a serious problem. These people have access to people in their homes. Something needs to change because it's not safe."

Konakchiiski was one of many riders we spoke to who had come to the UK through the official channels only to be undercut and disadvantaged in the job market compared to those who had travelled illegally to Britain.

Cenk O.,40, who came to the UK from Turkey, had seen his monthly income halve after an influx of illegal migrant workers.

He said: “Me and other drivers coming from [foreign] countries are joking with each other saying 'if we came to the UK illegally [we’d have a] better life'.

“But it's the truth, actually. We are trying to do everything right, paying taxes, bills. But we are getting punished, the illegals, they are rewarded.”

Cenk claimed he’d seen police officers sat, munching on fast food while illegal migrant workers loitered outside the same restaurant.

Muhammed Ian Bah, 52, is a JustEat rider who has also become frustrated at the lack of action from the authorities. He has reported illegal workers to the police and Home Office many times, but felt everything fell on deaf ears.

“[I’ve gone to the] BBC, Home Office, police, I’ve tried the stores, emails to JustEat. We've tried every avenue available and basically it just gets shut down.

“It's like it's too big for anybody to deal with and they basically just push it under the carpet and it will just go away.”

Shortly before meeting the Express, Bah had seen Home Office enforcement officers metres away from an illegal worker. When he informed them of the man’s status, they told him to “call Crimestoppers” and refused to do anything.

In response to our findings the Home Office said delivery firms had promised to tighten security at a meeting earlier this week. This included a commitment to ensuring more regular facial recognition checks took place within 90 days.

After that discussion Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Dame Angela Eagle, said she had been keeping a “close eye” on the the companies' progress.

She added: “This Government will not turn a blind eye to illegal working. It undercuts honest business, hits people’s wages and plays into the hands of the people smuggling gangs.”

A Deliveroo spokesperson said: “Deliveroo has led the sector in introducing security measures to prevent illegal working on our platform and are going further to strengthen our controls.

“We know that determined and sophisticated criminals are seeking new ways to exploit all platforms’ systems, which is why the sector is taking action. We are working as quickly as possible to improve the existing measures we have in place and will be making further changes, as agreed with the Home Office this week.”

A Just Eat spokesperson said: “We’re committed to being a responsible partner and supporting the local communities we operate in. As part of this commitment, we set clear standards and requirements for those who deliver on our behalf.

“We are continuously strengthening our approach to ensure everyone who delivers through Just Eat’s platform has the right-to-work in the UK. As part of this we require couriers to inform us that they are using substitutes and for these substitutes to complete right-to-work checks including enhanced biometric verification.

“All couriers are regularly required to complete a facial recognition test, ensuring the individual using the account’s facial data matches right-to-work documentation. Any courier who fails our checks is removed from the network.

“We are continuing to invest significant resources to strengthen our systems and safeguards, including introducing daily facial recognition checks.

“Just Eat shares the Government’s ambition to tackle illegal working and we will continue to work closely with the Home Office and other delivery companies on this complex and evolving challenge.”