A WOMAN has pleaded guilty to fraudulently claiming more than £7,000 in benefits from Selby District Council.

Patrecia Sansom, 40, who used to be known as Teresa Wood, claimed the money while living at Hillside Cottage in Hambleton, near Selby She pleaded guilty at Selby Magistrates’ Court to giving the council false information.

Magistrates were told that Sansom fraudulently received housing benefit payments totalling £6,468.68 and council tax benefits totalling £1,004.76. She now lives in Park Parade, Harrogate.

She was ordered to pay £3,000 in compensation. The council will recover the remaining £4,473 through the civil courts.

Sansom was also given a three-year conditional discharge and told to pay £200 court costs.