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Cheat: Benefits authorities captured footage of Joseph Doherty working on a building site while claiming benefits

Only one in 14 people assessed for the new incapacity benefit is entitled to claim the hand-out in the long-term, figures have revealed.

One in four claimants is actually fit enough to work, while more than a third drop their application before it is complete, it has been found.

The Department for Work and Pensions said 17 per cent can do some work with the right help and support.

Only 7 per cent of first-time claimants are actually deemed too ill to work and are entitled to claim the Employment and Support Allowance having undergone the Government's new assessment.

The findings come after the case of Joseph Doherty, who last week was sentenced claiming £70,000 in benefits for crippling back pain, despite spending a decade working on a construction site.

Work and Pensions Minister Steve Webb said: 'These figures show that many people are able to work with the right help.

'We have strengthened the support now available, tailoring it to individual needs so they can overcome whatever barriers they face.

'Those who cannot work will always receive our unconditional support but for those who can work it's right that they get the help they need to get into employment.

'We are continuously improving the medical test to ensure that it is as fair and effective as possible.'

Under the last government, those claiming benefits because they thought themselves unfit to take up employment were asked to complete a work capability assessment to find out whether they could do a job.

Just seven per cent of people that apply for disability benefits are actually eligible

The scheme was piloted in Aberdeen and Burnley in 2008 before being rolled out across the country.

Officials have now started assessing those trying to make new claims to see if they are eligible for ESA, which has replaced incapacity benefit.

Under the new assessment, applicants are either judged too ill to work and receive the benefit or are judged well enough to hold down a job and then told to resubmit a benefits application but this time for Jobseeker's Allowance.

Pensions Minister Steve Webb said that people who can work will get help to get jobs

The reforms, brought in under the last Government, also include a third category for those whom officials think could do some work if they received the right help and support.

Today's statistics, from between October 27 and November 30 last year, are not significantly different from when ministers first announced the figures for new applicants back in April.

Then, only 6 per cent were judged to be entitled to ESA in the long-term, while again 39 per cent were found to be fit for work.

Again, more than a third dropped their application before it could be completed, while 16 per cent could do some work with the right help.

Doherty admitted benefit fraud during his trial in Manchester, but escaped jail after revealing he had been suffering from stomach cancer.

He had claimed he needed wife Ann, 61, to do all the cooking, washing and cleaning and to make the bed, as he was so disabled.

He also said he had to have help with dressing and washing as he found it difficult to bend due to severe pain in his knees and ankles.

But benefits investigators, acting on a tip-off, set a trap for Doherty and began spying on him as he turned up to work at a construction firm in Manchester where he was working as site manager, earning £22,000 a year.

Working: His employers said Doherty did the job of a 'physically fit man'

They secretly filmed him as he walked around building sites dressed in luminous yellow jacket, Wellington boots and hard hat, giving out instructions to staff.

He was also filmed as he walked back to his white van to take off his building jacket before getting into the vehicle and driving off.

Inquiries revealed Doherty worked a 40-hour week for Atlantix Construction Ltd for 10 years and four months, initially as a digger driver before being promoted to site manager at the same firm.

He earned £11 per hour but did not declare any of his wages. Part of his duties involved digging holes and laying pipes, and driving a van.

Doherty was given a suspended six-month prison sentence and a community punishment order, and ordered to pay £500 costs after pleading guilty to benefit fraud offences.

Manchester Crown Court was told he had been in receipt of Disability Living Allowance, Higher Rate Mobility Allowance and Lower Rate Care from 1996 after declaring he was virtually unable to walk.

He had also been given Pension Credit and Incapacity Benefit due to his complaints of back ache. He received a total of £71,259 in fraudulent payments. dailymail.co.uk