A landlord who left tenants living in a property without heating or hot water has been fined �2,000.

The prosecution is part of a crackdown by Redbridge Council against irresponsible landlords.

David McDonnell, of Bedford Road, Ilford, was fined at Redbridge Magistrates’ Court in Cranbrook Road, Barkingside two weeks ago for poor management in a house of multiple occupation and failure to provide documents related to gas and electrical safety certificates when requested.

Mr McDonnell was also ordered to pay court costs of �251.25. Housing officials in Redbridge Council were tipped off when tenants at the property contacted them in November 2010, after the house was left without heating or hot water during the winter.

Redbridge Council served him a statutory notice and he said he would fix the issues, but the work was not completed.

Eventually work to restore the hot water and heating was carried out by a contractor on behalf of Redbridge Council, and costs incurred from the work have been recovered from the landlord.

The successful prosecution comes as housing and homelessness charity Shelter is running a national campaign to step up the pressure on rogue landlords.

In the last 12 months Redbridge Council has prosecuted 16 landlords for a total of 88 offences.

A spokesman for Shelter said: “We are pleased to hear that Redbridge Council are taking firm action against the rogue landlords operating in their borough.

“With a chronic shortage of social housing and more and more people being priced out the housing market, renting is fast becoming the only option for thousands of people.

“We would urge other councils to follow Redbridge’s lead in confronting rogue landlords and to use every weapon possible to crack down on unlawful operators.”