Yorks and Humberside workers 'following MPs' lead on expenses'

FIDDLING his expenses cost Rotherham MP Denis MacShane his job, but it seems some of his constituents may be cheating their employers too.

A new survey reveals that 13% of workers in Yorkshire and Humberside have exaggerated their expenses claims. The average amount over-claimed in the region is £35.14 per claim.

Nationally, the figure is 15% with the most inflated claims — 40% — being made for mileage and petrol, 38% on food and drink, 24% on public transport and 16% on car parking.

Research carried out among 2,000 workers found 15 per cent of employees in the UK have claimed for things which aren't strictly 100% work related, claiming on average over £450 a year in fraudulent expenses.

And the study found that 82 per cent of expense fiddlers had never been caught, and of those that were for 70% the only repercussion was 'a ticking off' or facing a 'very cross boss'. Just 27% were sacked.

Sanjay Parekh, managing director at webexpenses, which carried out the study, said: ''Years of MPs’ expenses scandals and corruption in the banking sector have set a dangerous moral precedent.

“Expenses fiddling has a crippling effect on businesses yet seems to have become an acceptable crime. Very few culprits are caught, and even fewer are sacked.

“Business needs to take to control of the situation and create real deterrents."

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