(Adds responses from Just Eat and Deliveroo to paragraphs 6-13)

The UK Home Office has asked food delivery companies Uber Eats, Deliveroo and Just Eat to put in place stricter controls to end the practice of sharing unverified accounts by their drivers and passengers, due to the concern for illegal workers and minors.

Food delivery companies carry out initial checks on people who want to work for them, ensuring their age and legal right to work in Britain. Once approved, delivery drivers can outsource their account to others who have not been vetted.

“Uncontrolled account sharing puts the public at risk, allows – and therefore encourages – illegal immigration and leads to the exploitation of workers,” Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said in a statement after meeting with the three companies on Tuesday.

Immigration officials have already made more than 380 arrests involving food delivery workers since the beginning of the year, the government said.

Drivers work for food delivery companies as freelancers, giving them the legal right to outsource deliveries to a substitute.

Just Eat said it was working closely with the Government on this issue.

“At Just Eat we have high standards and strong criteria for couriers who deliver on our behalf,” a spokesperson said.

“These include ensuring couriers are over 18, carrying out basic criminal checks (DBS) and ensuring they have the right to work in the UK.”

The spokesperson clarified that it was the account holder’s responsibility to ensure their replacement met the required standards.

“If we find that our high expectations are not met, we will take immediate action, including removing the messengers from our network,” the spokesperson said.

Deliveroo said it had “a zero-tolerance approach” to any couriers who fail to meet their legal obligations.

“We take our responsibilities very seriously,” a spokesperson said.

“We have implemented facial recognition technology that will help us combat any abuse on the platform and, as we explained to the minister this morning, we plan to strengthen this technology. We will continue to work closely with the Home Office to support efforts in this area”