Ellen Morris claims more than £27,000 a year in benefits, smokes 40 cigarettes a day and has a taste for vodka. She has also been seen behind the wheel of a Land Rover Discovery. But when she appeared before magistrates in Burnley for driving while disqualified she escaped a fine by pleading poverty. Not only that, she also had £1,800 worth of previous unpaid fines written off. Magistrates ordered her to remain in the court building for two hours as a token punishment in return for their generosity.

Although the magistrates had the power to jail her for up to six months, they imposed a 12-month community order for the latest offence and cut her £2,831 of outstanding fines, imposed for the initial drink-driving charge and an accumulation of other offences, to £1,040. Mary Thomas, chairman of the bench, said £20 a week would be deducted from her benefits to pay off the remainder and warned her she faced jail if she broke the law again.

Morris, a mother of 13, boasted that she wants more children as it would make her eligible for more benefits and a larger house. She said, "I'd like another couple of kids. Why not? It's not easy making the money stretch. They all want the latest gear and Nike trainers and I like Lacoste jumpers. Then there's my cigs. I smoke 40 a day and I like vodka and Coke. You've got to have some pleasures in life." She said she needs to double the £27,000 a year to live comfortably.

The Cromptons have two free houses, £32,656 a year in benefits and a host of mod-cons, yet they're suing for more claiming they've been treated "diabolically". They're even demanding a cleaner to rid their home of two years of filth. Their super-sized seven-bed house looks like a Currys warehouse, with at least three computers, two widescreen TVs, a DVD player, video, hi-fis, Xbox computer console and a little-used vacuum cleaner.

Mum Tracey, who hasn't worked for 18 years and who has 10 children aged three to 18, said, "We're not scroungers. We don't want to be on the dole. We just want a good place to live." Tracey and husband Harry, who hasn't worked for 13 years, were given two council houses knocked into one two years ago, at a cost of £20,000.

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A working parent would have to earn £46,500 a year before tax and National Insurance to enjoy the Cromptons' £32,656.