A WOMAN who conned £9,577 out of the benefits system has pleaded guilty to fraud.

Clarice Arthur, of Rochester Road, Sandford Hill, Longton, received Disability Living Allowance on the basis she could only walk 100 yards accompanied by her husband, with at least two stops.

The 57-year-old also claimed that she needed constant help with getting in and out of bed, going to the toilet, bathing, dressing, using the stairs and cooking a meal.

But an anonymous tip to the National Benefit Fraud Hotline led to evidence being obtained by DWP Fraud Investigators to show she could walk with no assistance to and from a school over 800 metres away from her house and was able to shop on her own.

Arthur pleaded guilty to the charge of a failure to declare a change in circumstances in order to obtain benefits between September 2004 and October 2007.

And yesterday at Newcastle Magistrates' Court she was sentenced to a 12-month community order, six months' supervised probation, 150 hours' unpaid work and £200 costs. She will also have to pay back the overpayment of benefits in full.