REDDITCH Council has prosecuted two residents for benefit fraud at Redditch Magistrate's Court.

Neil McBain, aged 53, of Chaddesley Close, Lodge Park, was sentenced on September 29 to a two-and-a-half year community rehabilitation order and must pay £1,500 compensation.

McBain was found guilty of fraud committed between 1999, when he became a university student claiming a student loan, and December 2003 when the council became aware of it.

During this time, McBain completed several claim forms and failed to declare he was a student. As a result, he was overpaid a total of £7,823 in housing benefit, which will be recovered.

A council spokesman said: "There are some situations where students do qualify for housing benefit but anybody claiming has a duty to declare their circumstances correctly at the time they make the claim and report changes in circumstances."

In a separate case, the council prosecuted Roy Webb, previously of Lodge Road, for benefit fraud.

Webb failed to notify the council he had started work and was overpaid £1,525 in housing benefit and £301 council tax benefit between November 2002 and June 2003.

The fraud came to light in June 2003 when his landlord notified the council Webb was leaving the property and his benefit claims were cancelled. During this process, evidence was found to show Webb had started work.

The court sentenced Webb to two 12-month conditional discharges to run concurrently and ordered him to pay £500 compensation. The total amount overpaid was £1,826 which will be fully recovered.