A BENEFIT fraudster given nearly 50 years to pay back her ill-gotten gains has been criticised by a needy resident.

Eda Mentesh defrauded Bromley Council out of more than £20,500 in housing benefit and council tax rebate.

Croydon Crown Court heard how Mentesh had made the false claims over three-and-a-half years while living with her partner in Hillcrest Road, Downham.

The 42-year-old, now of Upper Park Road, Bromley, pretended she was her partner's tenant and produced fake tenancy agreements and rent receipts.

On January 25 she was jailed for three months after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to 12 charges of fraud.

Judge Simon Pratt told her: "You pursued a course of dishonesty in relation to your continued applications for benefit. It was sophisticated and long-lasting."

Before the sentencing, Mentesh came to an agreement with Bromley Council to pay back the money at just £34.29 a month.

At that rate, it will be 2056 before the total is repaid a year when Mentesh will celebrate her 92nd birthday.

News of this has been greeted with "disgust" by Maureen Madden, who has battled to get council funding for modifications to her home.

The 56-year-old's husband Russell, 67, has been left stranded on the middle floor of their three-floor townhouse in Broadheath Drive, Chislehurst, since a stroke in May last year.

The couple applied to the council for a £20,000 grant to renovate the ground floor of the house converting it into a bathroom, lounge and bedroom area.

But they were knocked back because there was no money left in the social services' budget for last year.

Although they will get the cash this year and realise Mentesh's money came from a completely different source, Mrs Madden says they are bitter.

She said: "I find it despicable when there are so many people out there like me. I think they are greedy and don't know what misery they are causing.

"My life would have been so much easier if the work had been done before."

Explaining the reasoning behind its agreement with Mentesh, a Bromley Council spokesman said: "The amount was set given the financial circumstances of the individual at the time and we have the right to review this at any time."

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