A COUPLE who claimed Council Tax benefit without declaring income received from a part-time job have been forced to repay their ill-gotten gains and fined.

Gordon and Mavis Edith Renforth of Warren Road, Ashford, both pleaded guilty to two offences relating to benefit fraud at Staines Magistrates Court on November 27.

Investigation into the pair's finances by council officers had uncovered that they claimed benefits without declaring the income received from a part-time job during a six-year period. The benefit fraud totaled £2400 between April 1995 and July 2001.

The court ordered each defendant to pay a fine of £200 and they had previously agreed to repay all the overpaid Council Tax benefit they received. This money has already been recovered by Spelthorne Council.

Head of revenues and benefits Mary Tam said: "The mechanisms for detecting fraudulent benefit claims are improving all the time. If people are not claiming benefit honestly then sooner or later we will know about it.

"It should be remembered that when a person claiming benefits incorrectly is detected they are required to repay all overpaid benefits, which could go back many years."

Residents who believe they have important information on someone who maybe illegally claiming Council Tax benefit should ring the council's fraud hotline on 01784 446231.

f=helvetica s=6 l=8.75Shishali Mehtao