A WOMAN who scammed almost £28,000 in benefits is being forced to sell her Saltcoats home to pay some of it back.

Laura Barr appeared at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court last week and pled guilty to knowingly and fraudulently claiming Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit.

The court heard that Barr claimed she was a single parent whilst living with and maintaining a common household with a partner.

She obtained Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit amounting to £27,250 that she was not entitled to by falsely claiming to live alone with two dependent children.

Barr, 39, appeared before the court last week and was ordered to sell her house and pay back £11,586 within six months.

The fiscal told the court: “I have been asked to ask the court to impose a compliance order. The Crown are seeking that the accused must have her property on the market within three months of the order being imposed.”

Her solicitor Brian Holliman told the court Barr, of Burns Avenue, was being forced to sell her house.

He said: “This is effectively a forced sale and it is on the understanding that Miss Barr will take steps as soon as possible to put her house up for sale.”

Sheriff Elizabeth McFarlane ordered that Barr put her house up for sale within three months and pay the money back by November 1 this year.