A man who cheated more than £20,000 in benefits has thanked the judge after he walked free from court.

Trevor Reynolds, 56, from Wytewaters, Basildon, claimed benefits and council tax exemption for eight years despite the fact he and his wife were working.

Appearing at Southend Crown Court his barrister, Laureen Fleischmann, said he was extremely sorry for what he had done.

She said the fraud had got out of control: "Some people do not know how to stop the snowball from rolling.

She went on to read out glowing references from Reynolds' employers and spoke of his role as a volunteer worker.

Mrs Fleischman added a custodial sentence would deprive the community of a valuable member.

Reynolds had earlier pleaded guilty to six charges of false accounting and asked for another 147 similar offences to be taken into account at Southend Crown Court.

The offences relate to £20,289 in fraudulently claimed benefits, and he will have to pay a total of £33,000 back to authorities.

Judge Frank Lockhart told Reynolds: "Ordinarily for a case like this an immediate prison sentence is the only outcome.

"We have a welfare state to protect people who are genuinely in need of help.

"Unfortunately there are thousands who defraud it on a wholesale scale.

"It is inevitable many people are going to get away with it which is why prison sentences are necessary when they are caught.

"You do not fit in to the type of this sort of fraudster."

Admitting some people may find his sentence "difficult to understand", Mr Lockhart ordered Reynolds to serve 240 hours of community punishment and pay £1,000 in compensation.

Speaking after the case, Reynolds said: "The judge has given me a second chance. I just dug myself a hole I could not get out of and I'm very sorry for what I did."

Published Friday January 16, 2004