A woman from East Malling has been handed a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to illegally claiming almost £20,000 in benefits.

Nicola Stratford, of Elm Crescent, committed the fraud when she failed to notify the relevant authorities of a change in her circumstances.

Maidstone Magistrates’ Court heard how the 40-year-old failed to tell Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council and the Department for Works and Pensions that her partner was living with her.

As a result, Stratford was overpaid £10,075.10 in housing benefit, £2,138.48 in council tax benefit and £7,615.75 in income support.

She was sentenced to 12 weeks imprisonment, suspended for one year, will have to complete 200 hours unpaid work over 12 months and repay all the money that she fraudulently claimed as well as £200 in prosecution costs and a victim surcharge of £80.

The judgement comes just weeks after 42-year-old Grace Bradley from Clare Wood Drive in the village was sentenced to four months, suspended for a year, after she falsely claimed £66,583.

Cllr Martin Coffin, Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, Innovation and Property, says: “It is only right that those, whose circumstances entitle them to receive help and benefits, get all that they are entitled to.

"However, those who seek to gain more than their entitlement are committing fraud, and the extra costs incurred falls upon the council tax payer. The Council has a team dedicated to detecting such frauds and we are pleased to record yet another successful prosecution.”