A CARE worker from Rosson- Wye wrongly claimed more than £4,000 in benefits, a court has heard.

As a lone parent of one Laura Timmins, 25, was already entitled to housing and council tax benefits and income support when she accepted work at West Bank Residential Home and later with the Royal Mencap Society during two separate stints in 2009.

But the woman, from Mill Apartments, was told by magistrates in Hereford last Friday that she had failed to correctly notify the Department for Work and Pensions.

Timmins was given a a twoyear conditional discharge and also fined £100 in prosecution costs.

Prosecutor Michael Taylor said the defendant was interviewed in March and admitted finances were in a “bit of a state” after she initially gave up work following the birth of her son Jack in 2007.

But she was keen not to lose the skills she had built up in the care industry, the court heard, and decided to work part-time even though it made her worse off.

Bruce Gray, defending, said: “It’s important that we appreciate that this is a woman, in her keenness to do the right thing and get back to work, that put herself in a worse position.”

Mr Gray also said his client was already repaying most of the debt at a rate of £65 a week and soon hoped to be paying £20 a week in relation to the housing benefit.