Minister's Ex-Cleaner Arrested at Chiswick Flat

Loloahi Tapui held over alleged immigration offences

The former housekeeper of the Attorney General Baroness Scotland has been arrested at her Chiswick home.

Loloahi Tapui, 27, and a man believed to be her husband, were arrested by police and UK Border Agency staff yesterday.

Police have said they were arrested over alleged immigration offences and both bailed until next month.

Ms. Tapui, came to this country from her native Tonga on a student visa six years ago. She married Alexander Zivancevic, a Serbian born solicitor, two and a half years ago. They live together in a mansion block flat near the High Road and are reported to be regularly attendees at services at Christ Church on Turnham Green

She applied for an extension to her visa in 2004 but this was turned down and she was ordered to leave. She continued to work in the country firstly in a restaurant and then as a cleaner. She was employed by Baroness Scotland six months ago.

The Attorney General was fined £5,000 earlier this week under legislation on the employment of illegal immigrants that she piloted through Parliament. She has resisted pressure to stand down saying that the breach was an oversight equivalent to forgetting to pay the congestion charge.