The Investigation Team was launched in a bid to winkle out dishonest employees in a move to save potentially millions of pounds every year.

Since it was officially launched in April, the team has detected a loss of £91,700 and prevented an estimated £5,800.

The team has also managed to recover £58,000 after accountancy assistant Mohammed Majid was caught fraudulently invoicing the council.

He paid back the cash in full a day after he was arrested, but was still jailed for 12 months on Thursday.

Fraud and investigation manager Diane Baker said the case would be held up as a deterrent to other people considering to dip their hand in the council's coffers.

She said: "We take any case very seriously – it is what drives us. Hopefully, it will act as a deterrent to others.

"As the team's profile is getting bigger, people are starting to realise what we do, and are starting to report their concerns, which we encourage.

"We need to get the honest majority to steer the dishonest minority."

The cases already solved by the team include a case of mobile phone abuse, where bills of £2,200 were run up since November 2005, and a worker who fraudulently claimed £5,000 through a relocation scheme dating back to April 2004.

There were also cases where it was suspected people were working in other jobs while claiming sick pay from the council.

Two cases are currently going through the court system.

The team comprises six officers who work on benefit cases, and two who deal solely with internal matters.

Miss Baker said: "I previously headed up the benefit fraud team, but I could see scope to expand that team and increase the remit."

Extra resources were put in to increase the number from six officers to eight. But Miss Baker is confident the team will make overall savings.

She added: "Hopefully, we will see savings after a year, and increasing the team is a possibility for the future. We've had really good feedback so far."

During 2005 and 2006, only 12 instances were reported to the council, but the team has already investigated 34 internal cases since April.

They include 18 cases of fraud/theft, six cases of corruption and one benefit fraud.

A council report estimates any organisation suffers losses of between three and eight per cent from fraud and corruption every year. With a £360 million turnover, that equates to between £10.8 million and £28.8 million for the council.

The team is also responsible for investigating cases of councillor misconduct.