Right-to-die campaigner Debbie Purdy from Bradford has spoken of her outrage after being told she would be better off if her husband quit work.

Ms Purdy, 49, who has multiple sclerosis, was speaking after attending Bradford Magistrates’ Court where she was summoned for failing to pay council tax.

She said benefits officials told her on five occasions that she would get more money if her musician husband Omar Puente stopped working.

“It is outrageous. The benefits system is supposed to be a safety net, not a hangman’s noose,” she said.

The couple’s benefits were recently reviewed and officials told them if her husband was unemployed they would get further benefits such as free council tax, free prescriptions and help with paying the interest on their mortgage.

She said: “Omar wants to work but five times, people at the benefits office have said it would be better if he didn’t. Omar was disgusted. He’s Cuban and he believes you should work.

“He doesn’t think that is right. He wants to work. He wants to earn money. He wants to be a musician. They said ‘if you earned less, if you didn’t work at all, we would get you more money’”.

Speaking to the Telegraph & Argus, she said the current economic situation had heavily affected the work available to her husband, who had previously worked part-time as a music teacher and the couple had no money left to pay the council tax.

She added: “Many people have offered to pay for me to get this sorted out but there are hundreds of people in the same situation and it is wrong and it should be sorted out. It is not right that people are being told not to bother working. Omar is shocked at the cavalier attitude that politicians have towards the welfare state.

“The benefits system should be a safety net, not a hangman’s noose.”