Mother-of-three Tracey Hallam (41) pleaded guilty at Melton Magistrates' Court to six counts of fraud after lying on forms, telling the council husband Michael had left their West Avenue home.

John Kent, prosecuting on behalf of the Department of Work and Pensions and Melton Council, told the court Hallam made the first claim in December 2000 which she repeated for six years.

But Mr Kent said: "It transpires that the husband, if he ever did leave the home at all, returned to live on a permanent basis and this has resulted in a significant overpayment."

He added that Hallam had to fill in the forms every year so failing to mention her husband had returned was a deliberate lie.

She had been overpaid £21,261.64 in income support, £13,711.88 housing benefit and £3,118.19 council tax rebate – a total of £38,091.71.
Mr Kent added that Hallam, who cried through most of the proceedings, will have to pay all of the money back, which could take more than 20 years.

David Penney, chairman of the bench, said: "This was a deception over an unusually long time with very, very large sums of money. The offences were repeated, it was a planned deception.

"We can find no mitigating circumstances. We have taken into account you are a mother with three children and have no previous convictions but we believe this is too serious for us to consider."

He bailed Hallam to appear before Leicester Crown Court on August 21 for sentencing.

Speaking after the hearing, Melton Council's citizen well- being manager, Martyn Bower, said: "Committing benefit fraud affects everyone. Benefits are in place to help the most vulnerable people in our society and those who deliberately set out to cheat the system will be dealt with accordingly."

He added the council is committed to catching fraudsters and asked that anyone with information should call the confidential hotline on 0800 028 2196.