Having ignored numerous warnings and orders for stop illegally letting out a garage and outbuilding in Heston a 'beds in sheds' landlord has been fined £25,000.

Masood Ashraf, of Chaucer Avenue, Cranford, admitted breaching an enforcement notice issued by Hounslow Council back in 2006 yet continued to let out the buildings until March 2014.

Cllr Richard Foote, Hounslow's cabinet member for community protection, said: "Planning rules are there for a reason, and we expect everyone to comply with them. The level of fine shows that the courts take this matter incredibly seriously, and won't tolerate people lining their own pockets by ignoring the law.”

Ashraf was sentenced at Kingston Crown Court, where he was fined £25,000 and also ordered to pay £5,000 costs plus a £2,000 victim surcharge.

The council estimated Ashrad had pocketed at least £85,200 from illegally letting the buildings at 19 North Hyde Lane between April 2006 and March 2014. Although initial inspections of the property suggested he had complied, a follow-up visit found tenants living in the buildings, with one claiming to have been paying rent since 2005.

The judge said the offence was “as flagrant and as deliberate a breach as there could be.”

Cllr Foote said: "I hope this sends a strong signal that we are determined to crack down on rogue landlords across the borough, and will use whatever legal means necessary to stop their unscrupulous practices."