After failing to bring a privately rented Hull flat in line with safety standards a landlord has been fined and made to pay for improvement works to the property.

Mr Ashraf Khan, landlord of 79 Princes Avenue, Hull, was convicted in his absence at Hull Magistrates Court, of the offence of failing to comply with an Improvement Notice under section 30(1) of the Housing Act 2004.

He has been fined a total of £660 plus council costs of £504 and a victim surcharge of £66, and he will also have to pay for over £10,000 of improvement works to be completed which the Council subsequently arranged.

Cllr John Black, Portfolio Holder for Council Infrastructure and responsible for housing, said: "We have a duty to protect private sector tenants and this proves that we take our role seriously. Legal action and completing improvement works in default of a non-compliant landlord is always a last resort. We tried to work with the landlord to reach a satisfactory conclusion but the work remained uncompleted, which is why we had no choice but to take this enforcement action."

The Council Private Housing Environmental Health Team had inspected the flat and discovered a number of issues, including electrical faults, inadequate fire precautions within the flat and between the flat and the commercial ground floor premises, and defects to windows. Despite attempts to gain an informal agreement for the works to be carried out, which failed, Mr Ashraf Khan was issued with an Improvement Notice by Hull City Council which required him to carry out the works to remove the hazards. During repeat inspections Council Officers found that the works had not been completed.