A FORMER window factory boss claimed incapacity and other benefits to the tune of nearly £50,000 while he was working.

Darren Ryder, 38, had at first put in a legitimate claim after being seriously injured in a road smash.

He later started working, did not let on and got £47,176. 88 in a nine-year scam, Burnley Crown Court heard.

The hearing was told Ryder would have been entitled to some tax credits had he been honest with the Department for Work and Pensions and could have got about £19,000 in any event. The loss to the public purse was said to be up to about £27,000.

The defendant, of Westgate, Whitworth, admitted three counts of failing to promptly notify a change in circumstances and asked for 120 offences to be considered. He was given 52 weeks in jail, suspended for two years, with 80 hours unpaid work. He must pay £250 costs.

Sentencing, Judge Beverley Lunt slammed his reasons for being dishonest as “pathetic”.

She said Ryder would lose his job and probably his house if he was jailed.

Jonathan Dickinson, defending, said Ryder had a metal plate in his spine which kept several vertebrae rigid. He was deteriorating rather than improving and would say he would have got a further £8,000 .