A housing manager from Nottingham faces fines of almost £50,000 after being landed with a further £23,000 fine for fire safety offences.

Mr Zain Khan has only paid £150 of a previous £27,000 fine issued last year for allowing tenants at his properties to live in filthy conditions.

The latest offences occurred at the same properties, home to 14 tenants and were discovered when one tenant complained that she had no hot water, reports the Nottingham Post.

Inspectors found a range of concerns including water leaking onto electric switches and a fire alarm panel which had exposed live parts, said prosecutors for the council.

Presiding magistrate Nikki Whitelaw told Mr Khan: "We consider this very, very seriously, given the fact that this could endanger the lives of your many occupants."

"You are looking at nearly £50,000 fines outstanding and that will take time. You need to pay this."

Khan pleaded guilty to six offences on this occasion.

These were three counts of managing unlicensed premises; failing to ensure fire alarms were in good order; failing to provide a fire door for a kitchen, self-closing devices and smoke seals; and failing to keep escape routes clear, allowing water to penetrate electrical switches and a fire alarm panel which had exposed live parts.

The offences date between May and September last year.

The court also heard that fire doors were wedged open, items obstructed exit routes, a shared kitchen had no fire door and there was a hole in a ceiling beside a smoke detector.

Aurang Zeb, representing Khan, said he believed that only one licence was needed to cover the three properties, and that he is not the owner of the buildings.

He said: "As soon as he knew he needed licences, the matter was rectified in a couple of days. The application is still being processed. It has not been rejected yet.”

Original source

Nottingham Post