THE team manager of an England water polo team accused of wrongly claiming disability benefits said she has "never lied" about her claims.

Giving evidence at the third day of her trial, Joanne Kirk hit back at the prosecution case, which claims she failed to notify the Department for Work and Pensions about changes to her condition.

Kirk, who made applications to claim disability living allowance in 1996 and 2007, suffers from Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome, a rare condition which causes muscle weakness.

In the benefit claims, Bolton Crown Court heard that Kirk claimed she could only walk for about 50 metres before being in severe discomfort, and that she would sometimes fall over.

She told the jury yesterday: "I have never said I couldn't walk. I said I struggle walking. There are days when I don't go out, that is the nature of this illness.

"I am telling the truth. I have never lied. I have always tried to make people aware. It is a very rare condition. I see GPs who have never heard of it.

"I think there are only four neurologists in the country who deal with it.

"I have tried to be as honest as I can be, and I have tried to live as full a life with this condition as I can."

The court was told that Kirk was employed by Wirral Council five days per week as a swimming instructor from 2001 to 2007, and that she became team manager of the England girls under-17s water polo team in 2010, which involved trips around Europe as well as regular training camps in Cardiff.

She told the jury that this was a voluntary position she gained because of her daughter's involvement in the team, and it mainly involved her acting as a chaperone because most of the coaches are male.

She added that it also involved a lot of paperwork and administration, rather than physical activity.

Kirk said: "On trips abroad there is a huge amount of standing around because you can't have a group of girls training for four hours."

Kirk also told the jury that she was first diagnosed with the condition at the age of 17, and that it forced her to reconsider her life.

She said: "At that point I knew it was going to be a very long road, and that I had to forget the plans I had made because I wouldn't be going to university, and I wouldn't be living the way I had wanted to live."

Kirk, aged 49, of Bolton Old Links Golf Club, in Chorley Old Road, denies dishonestly notifying the Department for Work and Pensions about a change in her circumstances.

The trial continues.