Council nets 100 benefit cheats

Council fraud teams on Tyneside have tracked more than £250,000 in overpayments over the past year.

North Tyneside Council's counter fraud team took action against 100 people between 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2008.

The authority said most of the offences governed housing benefit and council tax payments.

A spokesman said 14 people were prosecuted through the courts, with the remainder receiving official cautions or given fixed penalty fines.

Excellent results

Ray Glindon, the council's cabinet member for revenue and benefits, said: "We have a duty to all our residents to protect public funds through the prevention and detection of benefit fraud.

"Our team has achieved some excellent results, which have actually exceeded the expectations of the Department for Work and Pensions.

"However, we are not complacent and will continue to identify fraud whenever it occurs and take effective action."

The council said it was pursuing action to recover all the overpayments.