Nearly £4m of housing and council tax benefit fraud has been uncovered by Bradford Council in less than two years.

Some 719 cases of fraud involving a total of £1.4m, have been dealt with by the Council so far this financial year, up until the end of November.

It has resulted in 24 people being hauled before the courts, while 68 others have been settled outside of prosecutions.

In all cases the money fraudulently obtained has to be paid back in full.

The figures are in line with the amount of fraud detected in 2009/10 when more than £2.4m of housing and council tax benefit fraud was uncovered. Forty cases went to court and 102 cases led to formal cautions or fines.

The Council’s overall success rate for punishing fraud, when officers working alongside colleagues from the Department for Work and Pensions, was 83 per cent last year – up to 91 per cent in the eight months up until the end of November.

A Council spokesman said: “At Bradford Council we take a zero tolerance approach to fraud and are committed to bringing all benefit cheats to justice.

“Members of the public can help in our fight against fraud by reporting their suspicions. Our free-phone hotline is an easy way to report fraud and any information is treated in strict confidence.

“Residents can also report suspicions of Blue Badge, Council Tax and Business Rates fraud. We take each report seriously and this has resulted in many successful investigations.”