A woman has admitted benefit fraud after failing to declare £50,000 worth of money she inherited from her deceased mother.

Angela Waddington, of Sandene Avenue in Crosland Moor, pleaded guilty to two charges of dishonestly failing to disclose full and accurate details of her capital.

Kirklees magistrates heard that the 57-year-old was managing the finances of her frail mother, who was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and later passed away.

She initially held the savings in a bank account on behalf of her mother and didn’t view the money as belonging to her.

Waddington has since repaid the cash - and made £1,000 donation to a charity looking after fellow sufferers of the illness.

She made claims for housing benefit, council tax benefit and employment support allowance over a 22 month period.

But she failed to disclose to Kirklees Council and the Department for Work and Pensions the fact that she held a substantial sum of money in savings.

Prosecutor Vanessa Jones said that as a result the total amount of money overpaid to her was £11,523.

The court was told that the original claims were genuine but in July 2010 Waddington moved to the area to look after her mum.

She had Alzheimer’s and was incapable of conducting her own affairs, Waddington’s solicitor Bob Carr explained.

He said: “She (Waddington) opened a bank account in her and her mother’s name but she viewed the money as her mother and was a guardian for that money.

“Clearly she would not have been at fault if she’d got an order to look after her mother’s affairs and invested in her mother’s name with her the trustee.

“That she failed to do. In June 2003 her mother died and she’s now left with a substantial amount of money.

“(This is) about £50,000 that was never dealt with formally.”

Mr Carr said that when the offence came to light, Waddington immediately repaid the cash.

She now has little of her mother’s money left after giving the remainder to family members and a £1,000 donation to the Alzheimer’s charity.

Mr Carr added: “It’s a very, very unusual case.

“She has lived an honest and industrious life and now finds herself having to plead guilty to a serious criminal matter.

“She’s terrified about coming to court but there was no greed involved.”

Magistrates ordered Waddington to comply with a curfew for 56 days as punishment.

She must also pay £85 costs and £60 victim surcharge.