
At first glance, this is very much a town on the up - a place where newly wealthy citizens pour their riches into gaudy, Beverly Hills-style homes, proud to show off just what they have achieved.

But the brightly-coloured streets hide a much darker secret: this is a town allegedly built on British benefits, where law-abiding locals fear their neighbours return.

Welcome to Tandarei, a town where many houses were built on the back of Britain's generous benefits system - and the ability of the criminal underclass to manipulate it.

Luxurious: Sprawling mansions paid for by illegally obtained funds line the streets of the tiny Romanian town of Tandarei (pictured, a home where a member of the Radu gypsy gang lived)

Lavish: Many of the homes in Tandarei, worth as much as as £500,000, lie empty most of the year

Tandarei, some 100 miles east of the Romanian capital Bucharest, has changed beyond recognition in recent years: the number of mansions in this 12,000-strong town has tripled since it first attracted international attention.

HOW DO THE LAVISH MANSION OWNERS EXPLOIT THE SYSTEM? It is thought that those living in the extravagant mansions in Tandarei have exploited the British benefits system to send money back to their home country. Neighbours say the homeowners spend most of their time living in the UK, only returning to Romania for holidays and special occasions. In Britain, despite tightening rules on benefits that can be claimed by migrants, employed workers still have access to the benefits system. Claiming child benefits, for example, means a family with three children would be able to claim more than £2,500 a year. In a country where the average annual salary is just over £4,000, that money can go a long way. Advertisement

Of those, more than 300 - most with gleaming BMWs and brand new Volkswagens parked on the expertly-paved driveways outside - are feared to have been paid for by the British taxpayer through money earned illegally or through benefits scams in the UK.

Some, with balconies protruding from every bedroom, are thought to belong to Gypsy gangsters who flout Europe's free movement rules to fleece Britons out of tens of thousands of pounds.

Many of the cars parked outside the houses have British number plates. Critics have held this up as evidence that Romanian gypsies travelled to the UK to claim benefits and sent the money to their relatives back home, where the average annual salary is around £4,100.

More than 3,000 Romanians were found to be claiming benefits in the UK as of February, government statistics revealed.

The rules may have been tightened in recent years - rules that stipulate an EU migrant who is unemployed have to be in the country for three months before they can claim JSA for a total of three months, and they cannot claim housing benefits - but many still find a way around them.

For example, those who arrive as an employed worker have a different classification under EU rules. That means they have the same access to the benefits system that any UK national has - which means £20.70 a week for your oldest child, and an additional £13.70 a week for all other children.

Over a year, it means a family with three children would be able to claim more than £2,500 - more than half the country's average salary.

Added to other possible benefits - and the odd undeclared, untaxed job on the side - it is not hard to see how Romania's criminal underbelly manage to fund such lifestyles in their home country.

For the hardworking citizens of this eastern European country, it is more than a little galling.

Tandarei local Alecu Vasile, 60, told MailOnline: 'I don't think one can make such houses with honest money... I am barely making ends meet.'

Scared: One Tandarei local told MailOnline he refuses to go out at night when the gypsies who own mansions like these come back to town, saying: 'It's just too dangerous and I would end up returning without my wallet'these mansions come back to town, saying: 'It's just too dangerous and I would end up returning without my wallet'

Suspicious: Many of the cars parked outside the lavish homes have British number plates (left), which some have held up as evidence that gypsies are travelling to the UK to claim benefits

Issues: The gypsies are thought to live in primitive annexes at the back of the house, which locals have claimed are poorly built

Threatened: Tandarei residents say they are under siege from gypsies (pictured, one of the mansions thought to have been built by gypsies) and claim that peace only returns to the area when the gypsies are out of the country

However, that is not to say the locals of this small town want their gypsy neighbours to return any time soon. In fact, they live in constant fear of them returning from the UK, where some 5,000 local gypsies are thought to have settled in recent years.

I am glad they are abroad. When they come back I don't go out after dark, and I don't visit the annual fair here anymore. It's just too dangerous. Tandarei local

Tandarei locals talk of being under siege, saying peace only returns to the area when the gypsies are out of the country. When they come back for public holidays and special occasions including Orthodox Cross Day, chaos reigns.

One local said: 'I am glad they are abroad. When they come back I don't go out after dark, and I don't visit the annual fair here anymore. It's just too dangerous and I would end up returning without my wallet.

'When they come back, they want all their families around them. And the family is always bigger. There is a joke here - three gypsies went to the UK, and 10 came back.

'They want big families, gypsies have always had large families but now they are really cashing in with the kids. All of them know about getting benefits abroad, they give each other advice on how to do it. This is where they get their cash.'

Another neighbour further down the same street said: 'I lost my son after he got into a fight with the gypsy. He was killed. I never really got much detail from the police, other than the fact that it was a gypsy.

'We have more gypsies here than anywhere else, about three quarters the people living in this town are gypsies now. Soon there will not be any Romanians left here.'

Galling: Tandarei local Alecu Vasile (pictured), 60 told MailOnline: 'I don't think one can make such houses with honest money... I am barely making ends meet'

Illicit: More than 300 of the mansions in Tandarei are thought to have been funded by the British taxpayer through money earned illegally or through benefits scams in the UK

Caught red handed: Adrian Radu, left, illegally claimed £29,000 in income support and tax credits from the UK between 2008 to 2010, when he was in Romania. Meanwhile, Ilie Schian, right, falsely claimed £35,000 in benefits in a year. Both had homes in Tandarei

Even when the gypsies are in town, it isn't like the homes are full of life: locals say the houses are built to be shown off rather than be lived in.

The gypsies only use the main building for family parties and functions but stay in the primitive annexes built at the back of the lavish properties, they told MailOnline.

The gypsies here all know about benefits. They are lazy, they even hire Romanians to do the work on their houses because they can't be bothered even when they are home Tandarei local

'They are too badly built, I think they are scared to live in them,' said one neighbour, who chose to stay anonymous for fear of reprisal.

Another said: 'They leave some family members behind and tell them not to use the house - and only open up when the rest come back.'

But, the neighbours claim, they aren't keeping house for their better-off relatives in that time.

'They are lazy, they even hire Romanians to do the work on their houses because they can't be bothered even when they are home,' one person told MailOnline.

As a result, many Romanians in town end up working for their gypsy neighbours as caretakers - keeping the houses clean and gardens well maintained while they are abroad.

Two of the lavish houses belong to a Roma gypsy gang known as the Radu clan.

The garish, orange home has been deserted since they were arrested in the UK five years ago.

Adrian Radu, 33, the son of one of the gang leaders, Constantin Radu, illegally claimed £29,000 in income support and tax credits from the UK between 2008 to 2010, when he was in Romania.

When police arrested him in Tandarei he was living in a new marble-floored, six-bedroom mansion and driving an expensive Audi Q7 car.

The driveway now lies empty and from the gates outside hangs a sign announcing the owners are living abroad.

Gangsters: Two of the lavish houses (pictured, one of them), many of which lie empty most of the year, belong to a Romanian gypsy gang known as the Radu clan, locals claimed

Return: Most of the wealthy gypsies (pictured, the homes they are thought to live in) come back for public holidays and special occasions including Orthodox Cross Day

Employed: Many Romanians in town end up working for their gypsy neighbours as caretakers - keeping the houses clean and gardens well maintained while they are abroad

There have been other instances of his compatriots being punished for illegally claiming benefits in the UK. Romanian gypsy Ilie Schian was sentenced to three years behind bars for defrauding the British taxpayer of 114,000 in benefits.

I heard they got some benefits in the UK for having a lot of children. Roger [one of the Radu clan] has eight children Tandarei local

Schian, who was jailed in 2010, created a false identity to claim the money which he spent on sports cars and a nine bedroom home in his home country.

'I heard they got some benefits in the UK for having a lot of children,' said a neighbour who refused to disclose her name.

She added: 'Roger [one of the Radu clan] has eight children. I don't know when they have time to make some many children.'

She said Dudu and Roger, both from the same gang, have luxurious objects inside the houses which they only open on holidays, adding: 'Last year, Dudu changed all of his furniture. But the three houses across the road that belong to his cousins are empty.'

In many ways, Tandarei has not changed for decades. There are still the communist housing blocks built by Nicolae Ceausescu, the country’s last Communist leader who bulldozed villages to force people into urban areas.

But the rapid influx of wealth gypsy families has put pressure on local communities who said they are often approached about selling their homes.

Primitive: More than 3,000 Romanians were found to be claiming benefits in the UK as of February (pictured, poor residents of Tandarei)

Humble: Barbu Paraschiva Florica, 80, who lives on a pension of just £85 a month, still works the land like most Romanian villagers

One woman said: 'I have heard that in other areas people were really put under pressure, and things got quite nasty.

'I get asked a couple of times a year, they are always friendly and polite, and I can't say they are intimidating. But they are really keen to have their families nearby and want to buy up the land.'