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Spiralling benefit overpayments have been fuelled by a rise in welfare cheats defrauding the system, according to reports. New figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) show that overpayments linked to fraud and error totalled £9.9billion in the financial year to April, up from £9.4billion over the previous 12 months.

It also marks a threefold increase on the £3.3billion in overpayments recorded a decade ago. Strikingly, £6.8billion of the overpaid funds last year were linked to fraudulent activity, including misleadingly filed earnings claims.

It is set against a wider backdrop of rising benefit payments, which totalled £309billion in the 12 months to April, up from £287billion the year before and £172billion in 2016. Among the high-profile benefit fraud cases in recent years is that of a gang which falsely claimed over £50million in Universal Credit and sent messages "poking fun at the naivety" of the DWP.

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Five members of the Bulgarian organised crime group pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering offences and were sentenced to up to seven years in jail for what was described as the "largest benefit fraud prosecution ever brought to the courts in England and Wales".

Catherine Wieland, 33, also stole £23,000 in Personal Independence Payments (PIP) last year, claiming that her crippling anxiety stopped her from leaving the house while splashing the cash on expensive holidays.

She was handed a 28-week sentence, suspended for 18 months, and was ordered to pay the money back to the DWP after failing to notify a change in circumstances.

While the number of overpayments linked to fraud and error increased last year, they accounted for only 3.2% of overall payments, down from 3.3% the previous year.

The DWP previously warned that benefit scams had risen in frequency since the Coronavirus pandemic, creating an "increasing propensity for fraud in society".

The department is now hoping to bring the overpayment rate down to a historic low of 2.8% for all benefits.

A spokesperson told The Telegraph: "We are determined to tackle fraud and error in the system, and at just 3.2%, the overall rate is at its lowest since the pandemic.

"Our new Fraud Act gives us tough new powers to go after cheats and claw back taxpayers' money - including accessing new data from banks to find incorrect payments.

"We've also secured a number of high-profile recent convictions of people committing PIP and Universal Credit fraud - proof our sustained efforts are working."