A HUSBAND and wife milked the benefits system of more than £3,500 in eight months after running up debts of £20,000, a court heard.

Nigel and Donna Smith, who have children aged two and three, did not bother to tell Harrogate Borough Council, in North Yorkshire, they had both found work, Peter Scott, prosecuting, told the town's magistrates yesterday.

Mr Smith had found a job working on a poultry farm and his wife, who is due to give birth to twins later this year, had landed a position as a nurse.

But the couple decided to keep on claiming benefit.

By the time they were caught, the couple had been paid £3,123.36 in housing benefit and £489.90 in council tax benefit which they were not entitled to, magistrates heard.

When the pair, both 24, of Butler Road, Bilton, Harrogate, pleaded guilty to two charges of deception they were told by court chairman Alison Stockdale their crime had been made worse because they knew just what they were doing and continued it over a lengthy period.

Mrs Stockdale ordered each to do 80 hours of unpaid community work and pay £50 costs, and said they would be well advised to seek help from the Citizens' Advice Bureau about their debts.

In mitigation, Geoffrey Rogers said they had moved from Scarborough to be near Mrs Smith's sick father and carried on drawing Jobseeker's Allowance.

Then Mrs Smith began work as a nurse and her husband got a farm job a month later. But no one told the council and the benefits continued to be paid.

"It was easy," said Mr Rogers. "It was easier for them not to tell the council, not least because of their debts. And once they started acting dishonestly, the more difficult it became for them to notify the council and they just carried on."

It was eight months later that the alarm bells rang at the council and the police were called in.

They are now talking with the council about repaying what they had had from Mrs Smith's £250-a-month take-home pay as a cashier and the £148 her husband brought in each week.