A HOSPICE worker accused of a £15,000 benefit fraud has been formally cleared.

Maxine Armstrong, of Bankhall Close, Hindley Green, denies dishonestly failing to notify a change in her circumstances to the Department of Work and Pensions between May 2009 and October 21, 2014, and a jury last month failed to agree a verdict.

The case was adjourned until Friday for the prosecution to decide whether to have a re-trial.

Liverpool Crown Court was told by David Birrell, prosecuting, that it had been decided it was not in the public interest to have a re-trial and the prosecution was offering no evidence.

Recorder Rachel Smith formally entered a not guilty verdict. Armstrong, who had attended court with several supporters, showed no reaction.

The 48-year-old was awarded Disability Living Allowance in 2003 after claiming she had pain when walking and saying that it took her 10 to 15 minutes to walk 100 to 150 metres.

But in later years Armstrong, who drove around in a BMW convertible paid for with a motability allowance, was allegedly seen dancing, talking part in charity walks and carrying heavy items unaided.

Armstrong worked at the Wigan and Leigh Hospice, initially as a volunteer and later as a paid fundraiser.

Mr Birrell told the jury that the DWP began investigating Armstrong in the summer of 2014 and video recordings resulting from covert surveillance showed her lifting heavy bottles of water out of the back of a van and strolling around a supermarket ‘without any apparent concerns’.

She was also photographed taking part in charity fundraising walks, including one in 2012, and taking part in a Zumba class before it, Mr Birrell alleged.

By 2014 video footage showed Armstrong walking from a supermarket at normal speed and covering more than 250 metres, the court was told.

When interviewed Armstrong said her condition had not improved but her ability to cope with it had and she agreed that she had not reported that change in her circumstances, Mr Birrell added.

The court heard details about her medical records, which show that Armstrong repeatedly complained of pain in her knees, feet and ankles and underwent various operations and medical procedures, including a partial knee replacement and having an ankle fused.

The jury was told that an improvement in mobility and ability to manage pain were circumstances that should have been notified to the DWP.

Summing up the evidence at the end of the trial last month, the judge told the jurors that the ‘real issue’ for them to consider was about ‘dishonesty’ and that Armstrong said she ‘did not believe it was dishonest to fail to declare a change in her circumstances’.