A BARROW pensioner who deceived authorities by claiming £26,300 of money she was not entitled to has avoided a jail sentence.

Janet Grainger, 67, of St Francis Gardens, Barrow, illegally received payments of housing benefit, pension credit and council tax benefit over several years, Barrow Crown Court was told on Friday.

READ MORE: Barrow OAP on £27,000 benefit fraud charge

Grainger had started claiming the money legitimately due to her low income but failed to notify Barrow Borough Council and the Department for Work and Pensions when she started to receive pension payments from her ex-husband's place of work of £183.73 a month, as well as a lump sum of £11,971.80 in January 2010.

The extra money meant her own state pension was no longer her only income so she should not have been receiving the same financial help.

In a police interview from December 17 2014 read aloud in court, Grainger said: "It is a false statement. There are many things I have left out and I'm so sorry about that."

Mr Roger Baldwin, prosecuting, said: "She had plenty of opportunities to tell the authorities of changes."

The court was told that Grainger had so far paid off around half of the amount.

She pleaded guilty to the fraud just before she was due to go on trial at Barrow Crown Court this week.

Grainger was given a suspended sentence of 30 weeks in prison and ordered to pay £300 in prosecution costs within 90 days.

Mr Richard Bennett, defending, said his client was sorry for the deception.

During sentencing, Judge Beverly Lunt said: "It is very sad to see a lady of previous good character defrauding the Department for Work and Pensions.

"You are an intelligent lady. When you came into this lump sum and pension payments after your divorce all you needed to do was the ask the authorities.

"You buried your head in the sand and hoped that it didn't matter - well, it did."