AROUND £1m worth of Covid support grants were claimed fraudulently in Leeds during the pandemic.

Councillors have heard that 74 cases of fraud had been identified by the authorities.

Leeds City Council issued around £300m in grants to businesses and charities across multiple periods of lockdown.

But the need to issue the cash promptly left the council, as with other authorities across the UK, vulnerable to claims from people who weren’t entitled to it.

The figures were revealed by local Labour councillor Gohar Almass, who sits on the authority’s audit and governance committee, which has been scrutinising Covid fraud.

Speaking at a full council meeting, Councillor Almass said: “74 cases of fraud totalling just over £1m have been identified.

“That’s £1m out of £300m administered by the council. Nearly £700,000 of that has been recovered.”

Councillor Almass said the council’s “rigorous” approach to trying to recoup the cash contrasted sharply with the government’s attitude to the issue.

The Treasury has been criticised for effectively writing off £4bn worth of cash that was wrongly claimed.

Coun Almass’ Labour colleague, Coun Mirelle Midgeley, had earlier described that as “a gut-wrenching amount of money to lose, at a time when inflation is rising at its fastest rate for 40 years.”