A landlord has been ordered to pay more than £37,000 for allowing tenants to live in what inspectors described as being the worst property they had seen in the past decade.

David Greene, 64, of Brooke Lane, Billesley in the West Midlands, had been letting a three-storey property with 10 self-contained flats, at 129 College Road in Moseley, Birmingham.

He was prosecuted for several breaches of HMO regulations, including smoke detectors that were hanging off the ceiling, insecure front and rear doors, no hot water and heating, broken windows, some of which were boarded up, as well as poorly fitted fire doors and fire escapes that were blocked.

The landlord was contacted by Birmingham City Council on a number of occasions and repeatedly warned that he had to resolve the poor conditions which included those designed to protect tenants in the event of a fire.

However, Greene, who has been a landlord for more than 30 years, ignored the advice and was eventually handed a £35,000 fine after pleading guilty at Birmingham Magistrates Court, while costs were also awarded at £1,941 and a victim surcharge of £170.