Britons accounted for 40 per cent of 150 cases of wrongful benefit claims by foreign residents of the west-central France département, which has 10,000 British residents. The average payment of the Revenu Minimum d’Insertion (RMI), the basic benefit for the long-term unemployed, was £250 a month in the Dordogne.

Bernard Cazeau, chairman of the Dordogne council, said that his officials had identified the illegal claims after state regulations were tightened and local authorities were put in charge of the RMI, which had previously been administered from Paris. They checked all 250 cases of European Union citizens who received the benefit.

M Cazeau said: “The ones who committed fraud were fully aware that they were acting in bad faith. Among them were people who were living in comfortable houses with large incomes. For example, they were working undeclared, doing up houses for other British people.

“We are not out to hunt Britons, just cheats. The State was easygoing for a long time. Now the RMI is run by the council, it is easier to check people,” M Cazeau added. “We have already filed two criminal complaints and a dozen others will no doubt follow.”

One of the criminal cases is against a Briton living in the village of Eymet. The other EU illegal claimants included Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese nationals.

Christian Memet, director of the council’s public services, said: “We noticed that a lot of these Britons seemed to be living in conditions far superior to those in which RMI recipients normally live. We are pursuing the inquiry and checking incomes.”

The Dordogne, which has more British residents than any département apart from the Paris region, is enforcing a government ruling, made last year, that barred EU citizens from claiming the RMI if they were not established French residents. In order to qualify, the EU citizens must have sufficient resources to live and be covered by French or their national social security.

All those who received the RMI without justification must repay at least the last full year’s amount.

The RMI is paid to people with no other source of income. All other benefits, such as housing or disability allowances, are deducted from it. It ranges from about £250 a month for a single person to more than £600 a month for a couple with more than two dependent children.

The French authorities are tightening controls on Britons and other EU citizens who avail themselves of France’s generous welfare state while failing to register with the social security and income tax authorities.

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