THIS is the moment investigators trapped a Chorley benefit cheat who claimed he couldn’t work because he had agoraphobia.

John Thomas Booth, 63, was filmed climbing a ladder and over railings on a first-floor balcony as went on his rounds as a window cleaner.

As well as the fear of going outside, Booth claimed he was ‘barely able to walk’.

He said he was unfit over a 14-year period, but was actively doing his rounds.

During this period he claimed £75,000 in benefits.

The surveillance footage shot by the Department of Work and Pensions’ Blackburn office shattered Booth's deception.

At the time of his arrest Booth had more than £100,000 in savings which he had failed to declare.

Today at Preston Crown Court, Booth, of Lyons Lane, Chorley, was spared jail after the judge was told he had voluntarily paid back £39,393 and had the funds to settle the balance.

Sentencing Booth to a 28-week jail term suspended for two years, Judge Norman Wright, said: “These claims were not just a fraud on the State but on every member of the public, who pay taxes for the welfare of those deserve them.

“People who have genuine disabilities and deserve these benefits have suspicion cast upon them to try and weed out people like you.

"These monies were not just frittered away. You were able to save up, you were able to help your son and to fund your consumption of cannabis.

"All this paid by the State."

He was also be made subject of a 8pm-7am curfew for the next four months and must pay £750 costs.

Booth, who had no previous convictions, had pleaded guilty to 17 counts of false accounting at an earlier hearing.

The court was told he began his scam in April 1994 after previously claiming invalidity benefit for 12 years because of depression.

When he began work again on his cleaning business he failed to notify the authorities of his change in circumstances.

Frank Nance, prosecuting, told the court: "He was asked to set out his reasons for incapacity and he said he had agoraphobic anxiety and a fear of being in public places and around people, which simply was a gross distortion of the truth."

Mr Nance said that on forms claiming incapacity benefit, Booth stated that it took him ‘two minutes to walk 30 metres’, that he was ‘unable to walk 50 yards’ and ‘struggled to climb 12 stairs’.

He also claimed that frequent panic attacks prevented him from leaving his home and that he found it difficult to go out alone.

When investigators asked Booth’s customers how long he had been working on the round, they were told ‘many years’.

In total Booth falsely claimed £75,991 in invalidity, housing and council tax benefits, along with disability living allowance.

He also made a claim for Pension Credit, stating he was single and not working, failing to report that he was married and his wife was in full time employment.

Booth then went on to falsely claim despite continuing to clean windows in Wilmslow, Alderley Edge, Stockport and Poynton on a regular basis.

James Hawks, defending, said his client had lapsed into dishonesty after previously submitting a legal claim for invalidity benefit.

Mr Hawks said: "This is a defendant who has had, and continues to have, genuine difficulties with his health, particularly chronic back pain."

That pain had not previously stopped him from working, he said.

He continued: "A considerable amount of the expenditure dishonestly received went to support his son who was a long-time heroin addict who had been running up debts."