Benefits cheats have swindled more than £800,000 from the Hyndburn taxpayer in the last three years.
Shocking figures obtained by the Observer from a Freedom of Information request show that the figure for 2014/15 has almost doubled from the same period 12 months earlier along with the number of official cautions issued by the council.
Miles Parkinson, leader of Hyndburn Council, said people fraudulently claiming benefits must be ‘punished and deterred’ to prevent the Welfare State coming under ‘strain’.
A total of £802,000 has been fraudulently claimed from the public purse in the borough since 2012, with the figure rising from £185,115 in 2013/14 to £352,797 in 2014/15.
The number of prosecutions have also increased by around 60 per cent from 26 in 2012/13 to 41 in 2014/15.
Hyndburn Council has also doubled the number of official cautions issued to benefit cheats from 70 in 2012/13 to 139 in 2014/15. The largest single amount fraudulently claimed by a person was £99,149 in 2012/13.
Coun Parkinson said: “The main issue is that it is important we have a welfare state for those who fall on hard times.
"Legislation is there to make sure those in need get the resources they deserve, and for those who don’t meet the criteria and fraudulently claim, the council has a responsibility to act and is doing that.
"We wouldn’t want the welfare state to be affected in a way that when you require that help it’s not there because its been affected by those fraudulently claiming. We can’t allow individuals who fraudulently claim to put that system under strain.
"We need to make sure those individuals are highlighted and punished and deterred in the future. Unfortunately there are many different circumstances people require the welfare state to support them.”
Conservative group leader Tony Dobson said the figures show the council are ‘getting better at catching these people’.
He said: “It’s got to be welcomed because every pound paid to somebody not entitled to it means its harder for the council and the government to give the necessary help to people who are entitled to it.
“I congratulate the team on the good results. This really should be a warning to everybody who is either making or thinking about making a claim that the information they hand in is fit and proper because we will catch you.”
