A Borehamwood mini-cab driver was given a community service order for 100 hours for defrauding the Department of Social Security out of £5,404.

Andrew Harmes, 29, failed to tell the DSS he was working as a mini-cab driver for Borehamwood-based firm ABA Diamonds when he claimed Job Seekers Allowance and housing benefit, Watford magistrates heard.

Harmes pleaded guilty to five charges of making false statements on dates between January 21, 1998 and February 25, 1999.

Of these, four charges concerned failure to report he was working, and one concerned failure to report the full extent of his earnings.

DSS prosecutor Ranald Davidson told the court that Harmes was overpaid £2,592.96p in Job Seekers Allowance and £2,811.25p in housing benefit, making a total of £5,404.21p.

Harmes admitted working for ABA Diamonds when he was interviewed by DSS staff, the court heard.

Harmes' solicitor Christopher Byron said, in mitigation, that Harmes had been an electrical engineer since leaving school, and set up his own electrical contracting firm in 1997.

But he did not earn enough to cover his overheads or pay himself a salary and, no longer able to continue working for nothing, he signed-on for Job Seekers Allowance and housing benefit, the court heard.

In the meantime an opportunity arose to do part-time taxi work, on a self-employed basis, with ABA Diamonds, where his father worked, Mr Byron told the court.

But Mr Byron said Harmes misunderstood how the law worked: that even if he was just sitting in the car waiting for work and not earning money, he was not available for work under the Job Seekers Allowance scheme, and should not have signed the declaration.

He added: 'He is very remorseful about the whole thing and wants to put it behind him.'

The court heard that Harmes, of Moray Close, Edgware, accepted in principle that he defrauded the DSS out of a substantial amount of money, but is to appeal against the DSS estimate in civil proceedings.

After considering pre-sentence reports, magistrates sentenced Harmes, who has no previous convictions and is currently working on a long-term contract for an electrical sub-contracting company, to carry out unpaid work in the community for 100 hours. They also ordered him to pay £75 in prosecution costs.