The government has failed to revoke the licences of nearly 4,000 illegal workers from security jobs despite the passing of a deadline imposed by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith.

On 13 December Smith admitted that 6,653 people were working illegally in the UK and 4,447 were suspected of doing so. All were warned their Security Industry Authority (SIA) licence would be revoked in 42 days.

However, only 2,700 licences have been revoked to date and many workers hold more than one licence, for example working as a security guard and monitoring CCTV, so the actual number of workers who have lost their licence is likely to be lower.

The SIA, set up to vet applicants for security jobs, told Recruiter that the responsibility to prove someone is entitled to work in the UK rests with employers and the process of updating the register, which was a "lot of work", was "ongoing".

New rules on the documents employers must check to verify an employee's identity and right to work will come into force next month.