A BENEFITS cheat who illegally pocketed more than £30,000 while he was working is paying back so little he will be aged 108 before he clears the bill.

Gordon Grant was earning up to £1,000 a week as a joiner but not declaring it as he raked in Pension Credits, Council Tax relief and Housing Benefit.

The 78-year-old is repaying £20 a week to the Department for Work and Pensions, but it will take him 30 years to replace the money he claimed.

A judge at Teesside Crown Court branded the widower “greedy” after he heard he was making on average £500-£600 a week while he picked up the hand-outs.

Judge Simon Phillips, QC, said: “You were earning substantial income, yet you considered yourself able to receive Pension Credit and other benefits.

“You did that knowing that the pot of money for those publicly-available funds are limited, and knowing there are others who have not only a legitimate claim to such support, but also who have a real need for it.

“It can only be categorised as greed that prompted you to fail to notify the authorities of a change in your circumstances.”

The court heard that Grant was out-of-work when he first claimed the benefits in 1998, but over the course of nine years had two jobs in the building trade.

He kept his jobs secret from benefits bosses and officials at Stockton Borough Council between 2006 and last year, and denied working when confronted.

Defence lawyer Duncan McReddie said although Grant was making good money, he was struggling to manage his finances and wanted to keep his home.

Grant, of Rosslare Road, Stockton, admitted four charges of failing to notify a change in circumstances and was given an 18-month suspended jail sentence.

Judge Phillips also ordered him to do 300 hours of unpaid work, telling him: “You can demonstrate that you are capable of contributing to the community, in direct contrast to the way you have effectively stolen from the community.

“You are paying contributions on a regular basis to draw down the amount that you have dishonestly gained. At your present rate, it would he many years before those sums are repaid, if they are ever repaid in full, unless it is the case you are able to pay capital sums in due course.”