A man who fraudulently received nearly £18,000 in benefits has been jailed for two years and ordered to pay back his illegal gains.

Dabeer Ul Haque forged documents to get the keys to a council flat and receive higher housing benefit payments.

When handing down the sentence at Kingston Crown Court on March 24, Judge Michael Hunter said it was a "carefully planned and sophisticated fraud".

The court heard Ul Haque, who now lives in Dukes Avenue, New Malden, made a housing benefit claim in 2010 for an address in Gressenhall in Southfields.

He submitted a forged tenancy agreement which stated his landlord was charging him £2,050 rent a month when in reality he was paying £1,650.

When his wife found work, he did not report it to the council and went on to forge documents to get a council flat.

Mr Ul Haque pleaded guilty to seven counts of fraud and was jailed for two years. Upon release he must pay back £18,000.

Housing spokesman Cllr Paul Ellis said: "This was a particularly sophisticated and elaborate fraud but one which failed to mislead or confuse our investigators and as a result Mr Ul Haque is now serving a two year prison sentence.

"And once he is released from detention he will have to start paying back the money he swindled.

"This case should serve as a warning to people who are tempted to try and fiddle cash from the benefit system.

"We do routine checks into hundreds of claims each year, regardless of when they were first made.

"If you are on the fiddle then we will catch up with you one day and when we do you will be prosecuted, you could go to jail and you will have to pay back everything you weren’t entitled to.

"If you are tempted to make a false claim, my advice to you would be think again."