A former post office clerk was jailed for 15 months yesterday - on her 26th birthday - after a court heard how she had stolen benefit books from unsuspecting customers and cashed them herself.

Kirsty Elvin, of St Anthony's Road, Walker, Newcastle, stole more than £13,500 over an 18-month period by pretending that benefit books sent to Walker Post Office, in Church Walk, Walker, had been lost in transit.

She then used her knowledge of post office procedures to cash them.

No other member of post office staff was involved in the fraud.

The deception was uncovered through routine internal checking, and, after a joint investigation by fraud officers from the Department for Work and Pensions, along with Post Office Counters investigators and Northumbria Police, Elvin was arrested at her home.

She denied 11 charges of stealing benefit books and a further 43 counts of cashing orders from those books, but the jury at Newcastle Crown Court found her guilty of all the charges.

Anti-fraud Minister Chris Pond said: "This is an excellent example of how our fraud detection team roots out benefit cheats, and should serve as a strong reminder that we always pursue cases against fraudsters vigorously.

"We are all victims of benefit fraud - public money stolen by swindlers could be spent on other services like hospitals and schools."

Fraudsters can be reported by calling the National Benefit Fraud Hotline, 0800 854 440.