"Blatant and shocking" benefit frauds and overpayments have been discovered by a watchdog.
Authorities have cost taxpayers £140 million in overpaid benefits and fraud over the past two years, new research from the Audit Commission shows.
According to the report, which covers the 2006/07 period, some of the losses of public money are "blatant and shocking" and should have been prevented. In particular, the study highlighted a 26 per cent rise in housing benefit overpayment and fraud since 2004/05, bringing the total to lost in this sector to £24 million.
Single cases also put under the spotlight by the Audit Commission include that of a Lincolnshire man who, despite running a market stall full-time and retaining savings of over £100,000, was allowed to claim council tax benefit, income support, incapacity benefit and disability living allowance. In addition, the un-named claimant's wife was also receiving a carer's allowance to "look after" her "disabled" spouse.
The report also showed that a total of 2,162 local government employees have been overpaid in housing benefits over the past two years, the BBC reports.
Michael O'Higgins at the Audit Commission commented: "People are stealing homes, pensions, student loans, parking places and benefits, seemingly confident that no one is tracking them. They are wrong.
"We urge all public bodies to put in place the necessary trained staff to work with us and follow up any matches. It makes both moral and financial sense to detect fraud and over-payment."
