BENEFIT spongers are being squeezed in a continuing council crackdown, which has resulted in praise and financial rewards.

Middlesbrough Council's work in bringing 18 successful court prosecutions against benefit cheats has netted savings of £674,000, which is £139,000 over the target set by the Government and has earned the council more than £100,000 in extra subsidy.

The fraud team unearthed 488 cases of fraudulent claims to benefit, an annual report on benefit fraud reveals.

Fraudsters caught by the council included a man who claimed £26,000 for four years to pay for holidays, a woman who owned three shops yet pretended to be a shop assistant and a couple who posed together as tenant and landlord and even drew up a false tenancy agreement when they lived together.

The woman who claimed she was earning £50 a week as a shop assistant was found to be a manager of three shops, earning seven times more than that. The man who soaked up the sun at the taxpayers' expense was jailed for four months.

Brendan Brown, head of revenues and benefits for the council's public-private partnership, Service Middlesbrough, said: "Our experience is that the courts are taking an increasingly serious view of these offences.

"People who commit serious, large- scale fraud involving public money, run a real risk of going to jail.

"Whatever the sentence of the court, we will also ensure that any fraudulently-obtained benefit is repaid.

"As this report shows, we have a very vigilant and pro-active team in Middlesbrough and they will ensure that benefit cheats continue to have an uncomfortable time."