A husband and wife who secretly worked multiple full-time council jobs at the same time have been sentenced after defrauding two local authorities out of thousands of pounds.

The case involved a former council employee who was found to have been working overlapping jobs for two different councils without permission, while continuing to receive full salaries. Investigators said the arrangement amounted to fraud because the roles were intended to be full-time positions carried out during the same working hours.

The couple appeared in court after an investigation uncovered the deception, with prosecutors arguing that taxpayers had effectively been paying twice for the same working time. Sentences handed down included jail terms, although parts of the punishment were suspended.

The councils involved said the case highlighted the importance of protecting public money and maintaining trust in local government employment practices. Fraud investigators added that increasing levels of remote and hybrid working had made monitoring some employment arrangements more challenging.

The prosecution follows growing national attention on so-called "polygamous working", where employees secretly hold multiple full-time remote jobs simultaneously.