But Joanne Kirman has been told she cannot leave her home at night and must wear an electronic tag after fraudulently claiming the cash from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

The 24-year-old Layton worker claimed her bad back made it impossible to work.

But at the same time she was sitting at a desk at the DWP and drawing a salary helping others with their claims.

Blackpool magistrates were told Kirman was wrongly paid £9,474 in incapacity benefit and income support between April 2005 and January last year.

Warren Spencer, prosecuting, said Kirman had stated she was incapable of work, but it was discovered she was employed 37 hours a week at the DWP national helpline centre at Marton Mere, Blackpool.

He said: "She did not inform the DWP she was working or capable of work. She was caught during a routine check and when interviewed accepted she had been over paid.

"She said she understood the rules about claiming benefits."

The court heard Kirman's job earned her £15,000 a year.

Steven Townley, defending, said his client had no previous convictions.

He said: "At the age of 16 she had four bungled lumbar spine injections and as a result has a permanently bad back.

"After her marriage broke up she decided to try and return into some work.

"She got the job at the DWP, through an advisor at the DWP, and she used her own name and National Insurance number unlike some people who fiddle the state.

"Working at the DWP contact centre would tend to suggest this gave her a working knowledge of the benefits system but she says that is not the case."

Kirman, formerly of Cameron Avenue, Layton, and now living at Tanhouse Road, Flixton, Manchester, admitted knowingly failing to notify a change in her circumstances.

She was sentenced to a three months curfew. She will be tagged and must not leave her home between 7pm and 7am.

The court was told how, after an internal investigation into her conduct, she had lost her job with the DWP.