A crackdown on benefit fraudsters is being mounted by Scarborough Borough Council because the authority is losing £1m a year.

Benefits manager David Ponton-Brown said the authority pays out £24m a year in benefits. "We have pledged that people will be taken to court if evidence of fraud is found" he said.

Workers at taxi firms, takeaways and caravan sites, as well as seasonal workers and people living in houses in multiple occupation, are regarded as a high risk, he said.

There had been 1,546 "whistle-blowing" calls about suspected fraudsters so far this financial year and 1,763 for the last financial year, which ended in March, he said