A man fraudulently claimed £35,000 in 'delay repay' compensation from Greater Anglia in just two weeks.

Michael Parker, 24, used several aliases to put in claims under the scheme - which compensates passengers for delays to their journey - using the same ticket during a period of disruption on the rail network in December 2019.

Fraud investigators uncovered the scam when analysing delay repay claims during the pandemic.

British Transport Police then investigated the case.

Mr Parker, from London, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit fraud at Inner London Crown Court, sitting at the Royal Courts of Justice.

He was given an eight-month suspended prison sentence, a 25-day community order and 50 hours of unpaid work.

Kim Bucknell, head of revenue protection at Greater Anglia, said: “In the last two years we have recovered £500,000 from people who have fraudulently claimed delay repay.

“During the pandemic, when we had fewer customers, we analysed claims from the whole of 2019 and early 2020 and pursued everyone who had put in a false claim.

“We have also tightened up our delay replay compensation process to make it more difficult for people trying to make fraudulent claims and have rejected tens of thousands of pounds of false claims.

“Claiming fraudulently is the same as stealing from Greater Anglia – and it leaves the company with less money for investment which could result in fares going up for everyone.”