A WOMAN branded "Britain's laziest" has lost her appeal to have her benefits reinstated.

Susan Moore, 34, was given the title after 14 years cashing benefits cheques without getting a job.

Her unemployment benefits were stopped last year after she failed to complete a six-month training course in Scarborough designed to teach her about employment.

She appealed against a decision to stop her benefits but a tribunal in York has upheld the decision.

Ms Moore, who lives with her mother, Jennifer, at Burythorpe, near Malton, North Yorkshire, was furious when her income of £90 a fortnight was taken away.

She said she missed classes because of an appointment about a funeral policy for her mother.

But at an Appeals Service hearing in York, chairman Derek Kenningham ruled that Ms Moore should be disqualified from benefits for 26 weeks from last November because her excuse was "unconvincing".

Karen Wilkinson, of the Department for Work and Pensions, told the hearing that Ms Moore's benefits were stopped when she skipped a day of the course in October without a valid excuse.

She said: "The decision is not meant to punish anyone, it's meant to save the National Insurance fund and to make sure people are paid correctly and appropriately."

Ms Moore insists she has always been ready and willing to work but has never been lucky enough to find a job.

She said: "I haven't even been for a job interview, no one's given me the chance. I'm available for work, I'd do anything. I'd like to have more money and get off the Job Seeker's Allowance."

Ms Moore's bid to stop reporters attending the appeal hearing was rejected because she had been interviewed by Eamon Holmes on GMTV in February.