A FATHER has been sentenced after pleading guilty to benefit fraud worth nearly £7,000.

Paul English, of Holmesdale Road, North Holmwood, was given a 30-day curfew order that requires him to remain home between 7pm to 7am until May 27.

He will also be supervised by the Probation Service for six months and was ordered to pay a contribution towards Mole Valley District Council's costs of £275.

The 46-year-old was sentenced at Redhill Magistrates' Court on April 28 after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing.

English had been claiming housing benefit from MVDC for a flat in Leatherhead High Street, where he lived with his six-year-old son, since May 2008.

He left the address during November 2008 but failed to notify the authorities, continuing to claim the benefit money for an additional nine months.

Between November 2008 and August 2009 English fraudulently received £6,946.26 in housing benefit he was not entitled to. MVDC is currently recovering the overpayment from English's present benefit entitlement.

Rob Boxall, the council's benefits manager, said "Hiding or failing to declare changes in your circumstances when in receipt of benefit is a criminal offence and deprives benefits from those in most need. If you receive benefit from MVDC and your income, savings, household composition or residency change, you must tell the council about it immediately."