William Stone, 61, and Diane Ward, 63, used some of the money to help set up BJ Cleaning Services and also splashed cash on holidays to Turkey and luxuries including a plush caravan and 52-inch plasma screen TV.

Both admitted benefit fraud charges at Lancaster Crown Court after they were caught following a tip-off, with Stone receiving a
20-week prison sentence, and Ward 18 weeks.

The court heard that Stone made a legitimate claim for incapacity benefit due to illness while living in Leeds in 1996.

However, when he started work as a labourer the following year he did not notify the Department for Work and Pensions. (DWP)
Over the next 12 years he held 13 cleaning and labouring jobs and claimed more than £37,000.

Stone won a contract to clean for Lancaster City Council – while his partner Ward fraudulently claimed benefits from the authority.

She claimed almost £35,000 of income support, housing benefit, council tax benefit and pension credit in Leeds and Lancaster, enabling her to upgrade her car.

The pair moved to Regents Leisure Park, Morecambe, in 2006, with a contract to clean, and Ward entered claims for housing and council tax benefit, claiming to be renting the caravan from BJ Cleaning Services.

Stone confirmed Ward was a tenant, even though they were living as a couple and had bought the caravan between them.

They were arrested in May 2009 after being filmed returning from holiday in Turkey through Manchester Airport.

Surveillance also showed them cleaning holiday lodges.

The pair had more than £15,000 in savings. Their caravan was repossessed and they had moved to a rented flat in Morecambe.

Stone offered to repay the money gained at £8 a month – which would have taken 350 years. The DWP will now take steps to recover the cash.

Judge Norman Wright told the pair: "Both of you were part of a long-term systematic assault on the benefits system.

"It is not the revenue that is the loser – it is the general public. "