A woman who claimed more than £20k in benefits she wasn't entitled to has been handed a suspended sentence.

Rebecca Mann, 36, of Thyme Mews, Witham, admitted the offence at Chelmsford Crown Court.

Mann dishonestly failed to declare that her husband, Clifford Mann, had started work at Aldi in September 2017, while claiming council tax support and housing benefit.

As a result, she was wrongly paid £20,802.73 in benefits - £19,126.31 of overpaid housing benefit and £1,676.42 of council tax support for the period of October 2, 2017, to August 4, 2019.

Mann was sentenced to 24 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months.

She was also ordered to undertake 200 hours of unpaid work and repay the benefits to Braintree Council.