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With the jailing of Matthew Hughes for making up a story that he fell into a pothole outside his home, local authorities could see an end to the bogus "trip and fall" claims that that are having such a severe impact on their budgets.

This is believed to be the first time that a claimant has been jailed in the UK for contempt after lying in a sworn statement when making a personal injury claim against a local authority

Hughes, 26, an upholsterer earning £150 a week from Pontlottyn near Caerphilly, received a two-week sentence when his claim for £10,000 damages failed against a prosecution for contempt brought by Caerphilly County Council. Caerphilly Council brought the action to put off other fraudsters.

The court was told that Hughes told a "pack of lies" when he claimed that he'd seriously injured his knee after tripping on a pothole in September 2001.

Two of Hughes's friends, Jamie Verity, 26, and Christian Rowlands, 34 supported his claim that the injury had stopped him playing football. Verity, a railway maintenance engineer, and Rowlands, a recycling plant worker, were each fined £1,500 for contempt. Their sworn statements detailed how Hughes had "screamed in agony" after his fall. The judge ruled it was "beyond doubt" that all three were lying.

Hughes denied the charge of contempt, but it was revealed that he was photographed kneeling in a team line-up of his local football team published by the Rhymney Valley Express. Less than two hours after his alleged accident, Hughes scored a goal for the team Pontlottyn Blast Furnace.

Although Hughes claimed that he injured his knee before the game, he didn't deny that he played afterwards. Team sheets showed that while allegedly too injured to play, Hughes had in fact taken part in twenty-nine matches. He told the court that he'd been advised not to mention that he'd played football on the day of his fall. Hughes's false claim cost him a total of £33,000 and he has already paid out more than £11,000 to law firms.

Judge Mr Justice Stephen Silber chose to restrict Hughes's jail time to two weeks because of his previous good character, work record and because his "intellectual powers were not sufficient" to realise how serious his actions were.

William Audland, representing Caerphilly County Council, told Hughes: "Your statement that you injured yourself in a pothole is a complete fabrication."

A spokesman said on behalf of the council, "Our definition of success is not just defeating a fraudulent claim but then successfully perusing the fraudster through the court and making him or her pay dearly." Since beginning investigations into all claims, Caerphilly has seen a reduction from around 1,300 to 600 claims for compensation a year.

Fraud costs Welsh local authorities an estimated £13m annually.