ONE of Fareham's longest serving councillors has been fined £300 after admitting defrauding his own council.

Fareham magistrates heard how former planning chief Hugh Pritchard falsely claimed both housing and council tax benefits from the public purse by failing to declare two separate pensions he was receiving.

Pritchard, 67, stood solemnly in the dock as he listened to the case against him.

Robert Griffiths, prosecuting, told magistrates how on two occasions Pritchard, of Holly Hill Mansions, Sarisbury, completed a benefit form each time failing to declare he was receiving around £100 a month in private pensions on top of his £85-a-week state pension.

It was only when a routine check to the Department for Work and Pensions revealed payments were being made to the Liberal Democrat councillor for Fareham South ward that suspicion was aroused.

After interviews with benefit officers it was discovered money was being paid into a separate bank account from Prudential and a firm named MPS Pensions which Pritchard had not declared. Pritchard claimed he wasn't familiar with the pensions but knew he had a bank account that he said was only used in an emergency.

However, Mr Griffiths said when statements were taken they showed the account had been accessed frequently to pay for petrol, groceries and day-to-day expenses.

Between the two false claims made on November 1, 2000 and November 13, 2001 Pritchard falsely claimed £1,251.65 in benefit, a sum he has now fully repaid to the council.

Pritchard, who represented himself in court, admitted both charges of making false representation for the purpose of obtaining benefit claiming it was due to carelessness rather than deceit.

He said: "There has been a failure to disclose as a result of carelessness rather than anything else. There has also been an apology to the council."

As a result of the prosecution Pritchard has also stepped down from his £11,000-a-year post chairing Fareham's planning committee.

"I have given 40 years of service to this community and there has already been a consequent loss of remuneration adding up to £11,000 as a result of this case," he added.

In handing down a £150 fine for each offence and ordering £200 costs magistrate Anne Pearson said: "You will recognise that this was a gross breech of trust. However, as you have repaid the total amount and because we have taken into account your guilty pleas we will be fining you."

Pritchard was facing up to a three-month jail sentence for each offence, a punishment that would have forced him to resign as a councillor and prevent him from ever standing again under local government rules.

Outside the court Pritchard refused to comment or confirm if he would resign from the council. Fareham council leader Sean Woodward said: "Whether he (Pritchard) resigns or not is a matter for him but I do not feel he should remain on the planning committee as that is a regulatory body.

"I shall be calling on leader of the group Roger Price to remove him immediately. The public should have confidence in their local authority and we should preserve the good name of Fareham Borough Council."

Cllr Woodward added the matter was likely to be forwarded to the Standards Board for England who could still insist the councillor was struck off.