A landlord has been ordered to pay costs and fines of more than £6,400 after a series of safety failures at his Dudley property.

Fire doors were not properly maintained at the home in High Street and would have been ineffective in the event of a fire. The property also had no hot water and the kitchen was not kept clean, at the property, which was home to five tenants.

The safety concerns were brought to light following a fire at the property in May 2015 and fire crews reported the problems to Dudley Council. Landlord, Rakesh Sandhi, of Ednam Road, Wolverhampton, pleaded guilty to 11 offences of breaching the Housing Act at Dudley Magistrates on April 21.

They ordered him to pay £4,900 in fines and £1,396.23 costs and a £120 victim surcharge. Alan Lunt, strategic director for place directorate at Dudley Council, said:

“We have a duty to help protect people in their homes including privately rented accommodation.

"This case shows that there are serious consequences for landlords who do not provide safe homes for their tenants, and I hope it acts as a warning that we do take this very seriously.”