A landlord who left tenants living in a "potential death-trap" by breaking fire safety regulations at a house he rented out has been convicted of housing offences.

Khalil Ur-Rehman, who rented a five-bedroom house to seven people in Lea Road, was fined more than £10,000 after pleading guilty to four offences of failing to take the measures required to protect tenants.

In December last year, a fire broke out at the house and Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service raised concerns to Environmental Health at Watford Borough Council.

Council officers found the house only had one fire alarm, no fire doors, no emergency lighting and locks that only operated with a key - providing no escape route.

In addition, despite it being the depths of winter, the central heating system was kept in a locked cupboard and could only be controlled by Ur-Rehman - who had it timed to operate for one hour a day.

Watford Borough Council environmental health officer Sam Richards led the investigation. He said: “This property was a potential death-trap and such reckless negligence by landlords will not be tolerated.

"It was lucky that this time no one was injured but it could have been a very different story.

"We want to prevent situations like this and we can offer advice and support to landlords to help improve their properties.”

Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Station Commander Jon Horastead added: “This is one of the worst cases I’ve seen.

"No safety regulations had been followed and if the fire had taken place at night instead of the afternoon, it could have led to fatalities.

"The fire started in one of the bedrooms - if a fire door was in place the fire probably would have been restricted to this room.

"We are proactively working with Environmental Health to stamp out sub-standard HMOs in Watford.”

Mr Khalil Ur-Rehman pleaded guilty to the offences under the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006.

He was fined a total of £7,500 and ordered to pay costs of £5,673.27, plus a £120 victim surcharge.