A WEST Oxfordshire woman who stole benefits worth more than £43,000 has been given a suspended jail sentence.

Elizabeth Horton, who was living at Corner Cottage, Langford, near Carterton, was setenced at Oxford Crown court to 40 weeks in prison suspended for two years.

At a previous hearing she had admitted four charges of making a false statement and one of failing to promptly declare a change in circumstances to West Oxfordshire District Council. They were related to applcations she made for housing and council tax benefits and income support between 2005 and last year.

Horton, 37, now of Feering in Essex, fraudulently claimed a total of £43,592.