A BOOKHAM woman has been punished with a community order after admitting she lied about more than £5,000 of benefit claims.

Heather Pickett, 47, of Middlemead Road, appeared at Redhill Magistrates' Court last Friday to be sentenced for benefit fraud after entering a guilty plea in response to the prosecution by Mole Valley District Council.

She had been claiming housing and council tax benefit for her husband and herself since 2004 and had declared to council officers that neither of them worked and that they were living on a low income.

However, she failed to tell Mole Valley District Council that her husband had started self-employed work in February last year and also failed to mention that she had been receiving working tax credits from the Inland Revenue.

The council did not become aware of the fraud until 11 months later, when Pickett was visited by a benefits officer in January this year.

Pickett told the officer that their circumstances had stayed the same but, later that day, she phoned the officer to admit she had lied.

Between February 2009 and January 2010 she had fraudulently received £5,152 in housing and council tax benefits.

Mrs Pickett was sentenced to a 12-month community order and ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work in the community. She was also ordered to pay a contribution towards the council's costs of £250 and is repaying the fraudulently claimed cash.

Rob Boxall, the district council's benefits manager, said: "Hiding or failing to declare changes in your circumstances when in receipt of benefits is a criminal offence. It deprives from those most in need.

"If you receive benefit from MVDC and your income, savings, household composition or residency change, you must tell the council immediately.

"Failure to do so could result in an investigation and legal action being taken against you."

Mr Boxall added: "If you suspect someone of committing benefit fraud in Mole Valley, please call the fraud hotline on 01306 879284. Here you can speak to a trained investigator.

"All calls will be treated in a strictly confidential manner – your identity will remain anonymous."