TV dancer to repay benefits

A 'disabled' breakdancing OAP from Britain's Got Talent wasÂ…

11:58 13 October 2009

The breakdancing pensioner who was discovered to be claiming benefits for a bad leg after he appeared on Britain's Got Talent has been ordered to pay back £3,000.

Fred Bowers, 74, reached the semi-finals of the TV contest with his energetic dance routine, which included spinning on the top of his head.

But his high profile acrobats received attention from the Department for Work and Pensions who noticed that Bowers was claiming £50 a month in Motability allowance.

Earlier this year, officials stopped the money. Now the ex-soldier, of Sutton Bonington, Leics, has been ordered to pay back all £3,000.

Bowers, who denied that he was a benefits cheat. stated: "I was overpaid but it was a mistake by the social. I'd never do anything dishonest. I always said I'd pay back anything I owed."

It will take him five years to clear his debt.

The breakdancing star is said to be negotiating a spot on German TV. He said: "I still feel I have a lot of dancing left in me."