Croydon Council's fraud investigation team uncovered 45 incidents of staff fraud at the council.

One example was of an ex-social worker who tried to buy a car using the assisted purchase council scheme.

The claim was put through human resources who discovered that instead of being a car dealer, the man listed as selling the vehicle was the woman’s husband - a full-time student.

The couple had a council house in Southwark which they sublet, and she was claiming student council tax exemption despite working full-time.

Other fraudulent activity by staff involved obtaining blue badges for parking, claiming too much overtime, council tax fraud and computer misuse.

Nearly £1.5m was recouped from fraudster in the borough by the council.

It revealed the council probed 341 new cases between 1 April and 30 November last year of which 246 were benefits related and 95 were allegations of non benefit frauds.

So far this year, it has had successful outcomes for 104 cases which identified overspending or saved a total of £1,490,71.

During October and November last year the council saw six of its benefit fraud cases reach sentence, with a total of 54 years in jail.

Among the fraudsters was Ganiat Olateju, 43, of Huddlestone Crescent, Merstham, who claimed £82,694 in benefits after using a false identity.

He was jailed for 12 months in October.

Elaine Breach of New Addington was found guilty of 10 charges of dishonestly telling the council's benefits service and the Department for Work and Pensions that she was a single parent, when she was in fact living with her husband, Geoffrey Stone.

Sending the former William Hill's betting shop manger to prison for two years in November, Judge Heather Baucher said: "This fraud was calculated and sophisticated and had been perpetuated over a long time and would have continued, had it not been for the diligent investigation, which was to the credit of the investigating authorities.”