A COLLEGE worker claimed more than £6,000 in child benefits although she had more than £16,000 in the bank, a court has heard.

Nicola Hodgson, a quality assurance co-ordinator at Accrington and Rossendale College, admitted four charges of giving false information to the Inland Revenue when she appeared before Hyndburn magistrates. .

The court heard the 38-year-old claimed she was paying £158 per week in child care for her five-year-old daughter and one-year-old son, while claiming working family tax credits.

She also gave a false address, failed to declare she was living with her partner, and failed to disclose his earnings, magistrates were told.

Clare Thomas, prosecuting, said between August 2002 and August this year, Hodgson had been paid £6,369.19 in credits.

Hodgson, of Harwood Lane, Great Harwood, had subsequently arranged to stop the credits in October and had repaid the money last week , she said.

Gareth Price, defending, said Hodgson had saved the £16,000 to give to her children when they reached the age of 18.

"She did not view that as her own, but when challenged admitted it was her money," he said.

"She is a lady primarily motivated by providing some sort of financial security for her children. She had a traumatic childhood. Her parents had between them gone through five divorces, four of them messy and one violent. That caused her to concentrate on financial security for her own children."

Hodgson was fined £300 for each offence and ordered to pay costs of £250.

A spokesman for Accrington and Rossendale College, said: "The college is aware of the situation. We are currently determining if the

conviction has any implications for us and, in due course, we will take action as appropriate."