A Borehamwood man who claimed more than £3,000 in benefits which he was not entitled to was ordered to repay the money when he appeared at St Albans Magistrates Court last week.

Sahr Alvin Fasuluku, aged 26, of Rossington Avenue, pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to notify the Benefit Agency of a change in his circumstances when he was collecting benefit.

On Tuesday last week the court heard that he collected £3,177 in Housing Benefit, Jobseekers' Allowance and Council Tax relief when he was in employment last year.

Fasuluku was given a conditional discharge and ordered to repay the £3,177 in compensation and contribute £400 towards the prosecution costs. The defendant applied for Housing Benefit in February last year, after he had been made redundant by Nextcall Telecom, the Borehamwood-based company which closed down that month.

Hertsmere Borough Council later began an investigation into the claim because it believed that Fasuluku was no longer living at the Rossington Avenue address that he had given.

A council investigation officer visited the address on three occasions, but there was no answer at the door, and further enquiries were carried out to check Fasuluku's employment details.

It was revealed that the defendant had a job between February and October 2001, and that he had signed two Jobseekers' Allowance claim forms during this period stating that he did not.

Fasuluku was contacted by the council to attend an interview, under caution, and when he failed to appear for two appointments, he was arrested by police.