A mother who claimed she did not know where the father of her children was could face prison after the couple were discovered to be living together.

Ines Da Silva and Gasono Agogo, both aged 37 and from Blenheim Mews, in Shenley, pleaded guilty to fraudulently claiming more than £20,000 in housing benefit and council tax support and discounts.

On December 7, they appeared at Harrow Crown Court where Da Silva claimed she was living alone with her children and had provided false tenancy agreements in May 2014 and May 2015 to support this. She also wrote a letter to benefits officers claiming she did not know Mr Agogo's whereabouts.

Following an investigation by Hertfordshire's Shared Anti-Fraud Service (SAFS) the real tenancy agreement was discovered which showed the pair had been living togethet since January 2015 and Mr Agogo had been paying the monthly rent to the couple's landlord.

Leader of Hertsmere Borough Council Cllr Morris Bright said: "This case goes above and beyond simply failing to update changes in circumstances, and shows a real determination to cheat the system.

"As well as going through the ordeal of a court case, the couple now face the prospect of prison. No matter what the short-term rewards are, lying to claim benefits or discounts in council tax is totally unacceptable."

The pair obtained £18,127.46 in housing benefit and £2,148.15 in council tax support between June 2014 and January 2016. Da Silva pleaded guilty to four counts of dishonestly making a false representation and one count of furnishing a false document, while Agogo pleaded guilty to two counts of forgery. They will be sentenced at Harrow Crown Court on January 19.

This is the latest case in Hertfordshire to be brought to prosecution by SAFS. The service was formed to tackle tenancy, blue badge and council tax fraud in April 2015 as a partnership between Hertsmere Borough Council, Hertfordshire County Council and four other district and borough councils.