'We have everything we want here!' Slovak mother of 11 who gets handouts of £430 a WEEK says she won't get a job and will stay in the UK 'forever'

With 11 children and 11 grandchildren, life for Katerina Sisarova, 43, from Slovakia, used to be a struggle to make ends meet.

But seven years after moving to Rotherham in Yorkshire, Mrs Sisarova says life is 'very nice' - and it's all down to the £430 a week she receives from the taxpayer.

What's more, Mrs Sisarova, who has worked for a grand total of one month in seven years, says she has no plans to find work and spends her time caring for her grandchildren instead.

Shameless: Katerina Sisarova, 43, came to the UK seven years ago but has had a job for just one month

And she isn't the only one. Although husband Peter, a builder by trade, has had the odd job, he hasn't worked for two years while all but one of Mrs Sisarova's 11 children are

unemployed and living on benefits.

'We have a good life here,' says an unrepentant Mrs Sisarova, whose £24,000 annual income is six times what she would have received in Slovakia.

'We have everything that we want here. We didn't have flats like this [council house] in Slovakia. We didn't have electricity or radiators. We didn't have anything - anything!'

'My country no have job, no food... nothing,' adds her husband. 'No. I'm not going back - no, not ever. I like it here in England.

Big family: In the UK with Mrs Sisarova is her husband Peter and their 11 children and 11 grandchildren

Handouts: Daughter Petra, 20, lives in a nearby council house with her son Peter and is handed £650 a month

'England give me house, give me doctor, school, benefit. England good. Thank you so much England. Thank you very much.'

Daughter Petra, 20, lives in a council house nearby with her son Peter, three, and also lives on handouts, which in her case, total £650 a month.

'I get child benefit, tax credit, housing benefit,' she says happily. 'I've got a better life here than in my country. I'm never going to go back to Slovakia, never.'

'England is good,' adds her father. 'My country no good. No jobs, no anything. Too many people from Slovakia coming England because my country no have job.

'I go from my country. I have no house, I have nothing. Here I have house. I am very, very happy.'

Unfortunately for Mrs Sisarova, her reluctance to find work hasn't gone unnoticed by the job centre, which has threatened to cut her benefits - much to her fury.

No work: Peter Sisarova, right, is a builder by trade but has been unemployed for more than two years

Tension: Rotherham is home to an estimated 6,000 Roma gypsies - the cause of much tension in recent months

'It's not fair to suspend money like this,' she fumes. 'Is it right to do that? No! Every time I go to sign on, they come up with something... all the time. I am so cross! So cross!'

Luckily, help is at hand in the form of the Unity Centre, a community development charity with branches all over the UK.

In Rotherham, much of the development work involves helping newcomers to settle in, which as translator Mikel explains, often means helping them claim benefits.

'Katerina comes here quite often,' he explains. 'We try to help her with making phonecalls or filling in forms.'

He adds: 'She has been suspended a few times from the JSA [jobseekers allowance] payments and the reason is that she is not actively looking for a job.

'The problem with them is that they have been here a long time but they are not mixing with non Roma people. You have to go out there and try to learn English.'

Hard times: According to translator Mikel, many are trying to get a job but others want to live on benefits

Difficult: Local paper, the Rotherham Advertiser, has called for curbs on migrants as a result of tension

Not that Mrs Sisarova needs to. Rotherham has one of the largest Roma populations in the UK, with an estimated 6,000 already living in the city - the cause of tension earlier this year between locals and incomers.

So why the UK and why Rotherham? According to Mikel, benefits are a huge draw. 'Because the UK is in the EU, we [Roma] can work or claim benefits.

'The UK is a welcoming country, an easy country to be in. I think it's easier to claim benefits here than in our countries, so if we have people in here, we help them to claim benefits. '

But, he adds, not every Roma migrant has travelled to the UK purely to benefit from taxpayer-funded handouts.

'Not every Roma is the same,' he explains. 'There are plenty of Roma people here trying to live better lives free of discrimination and racism and who are hard working.

'Then there are other Roma who may be abusing the system. And don't get me wrong, there are some of the British people who could say "they don't do nothing" and stuff like that.

'A few of those people have got a point actually... We've got people here who are just on the take and the make.'

Among them is Mrs Sisarova, who, thanks to Mikel's efforts on her behalf, has managed to evade having her benefits cut once more.

'She will get paid job seekers allowance of £500 a month,' beams daughter Petra. 'Very nice!' adds her delighted mother.

The Sisarova family appear on Benefits Britain: Life on the Dole, Monday at 9pm on Channel 5

DM