Three brothers were locked up today for travelling to the UK on false passports and dishonestly milking the benefit system.

Their youngest brother, spared custody by a judge at Bradford Crown Court today, shook hands with them in the dock as they went to the cells.

The court heard the four were all illegal immigrants living in Buxton Street, Keighley.

They used their forged passports to together claim almost £9,000 in job seeker's allowance.

Before the court were Asif Javed, 27, and his brothers Nazeer, 24, Saghir, 26, and Zahid, thought to be 20 but now claiming to be 18.

All pleaded guilty on December 12 to possessing a false passport and benefit fraud.

Asif, Nazeer and Saghir were each locked up for nine months.

Zahid was sentenced to a 12-month community order and 100 hours' unpaid work.

The court heard police had served notices on the four under the Immigration Act but they had applied for asylum.

Recorder of Bradford Judge Stephen Gullick said the Home Secretary will decide if the four are deported.

He said the public was very concerned about the use of false identity documents, even by those engaging in nothing worse than economic migration.

Prosecutor Giles Bridge said a plot was hatched to pretend the men were the sons of their uncle, Mohammed Ajram, of Chesham, Buckinghamshire.

In 2002, the brothers applied to the British High Commission in Pakistan for UK passports.

They used the false surname Ajram and forged birth and marriage certificates.

The passports were issued and the three older men came to Britain to live with their uncle.

They were given National Insurance numbers but returned to Pakistan in 2005, before returning the following year, all four came to the UK, despite being challenged at the airport.

After moving to Keighley, Asif illegally claimed £3,725 Job Seeker's Allowance, Saghir, £2,416, Nazeer, £1,888 and Zahid £879.