A BENEFIT fraudster has been prosecuted for defrauding Bromley Council of more than £2,500.

Maria Valencia, of Havelock Road, Bromley, pocketed £2,579 in housing benefit from March to September last year.

The 31-year-old had failed to tell the council her jobseekers allowance had stopped and she carried on claiming housing benefits while working.

She was fined £200 and made to pay £400 after being found guilty of fraud at Bromley Magistrates’ Court on July 14.

The council is in the process of recovering the benefit money.

Anyone with information about a suspected benefit fraud should call the fraud hotline on 0800 1696975 or email audit@bromley.gov.uk