Rogue Landlord Operation

Raids led by the authority found families paying up to £1,000 for one room - in some cases little bigger than a box room.

One family-size home was subdivided to accommodate 17 people in six self-contained flats plus an outbuilding. What were described to the tenants as kitchen facilities turned out in a number of cases to be simply a microwave oven.

Two families had to be re-housed after the Fire Brigade were required to cut gas and electricity supplies because of safety concerns. It was feared a serious explosion could occur after a significant gas leak was discovered.

Eight simultaneous dawn raids were launched on Tuesday May 19th by the council's Private Sector Housing Enforcement and Planning Enforcement teams following investigation into the landlord and his associates, who are not being named for legal reasons.

One property contained 17 people in six bed-sits and an outbuilding. In another, five people were found living in a ground floor room, while ten others were spread out over the first floor, loft conversion and an outhouse.

Legal action on all eight properties is now being sought with regards to planning issues ranging from potential unauthorised extensions to the use of outbuildings for residential purposes. Three homes inspected by housing officers were found to be overcrowded and in breach of the Housing Act and fire safety. None had legally required fire escapes or smoke alarms and all were confirmed as unlicensed Houses in Multiple Occupation.

Cllr Marilyn Ashton, portfolio holder for planning, said: "We have a responsibility to ensure that in this country people's basic rights and needs are catered for. Instead we uncovered a squalid picture of overcrowding and exploitation of our most vulnerable citizens which could have come straight from Dickens' London.

"The people made homeless from these raids are now in proper and modern accommodation where they should have been in the first place. It is only a pity they first fell prey to those who put profit over human dignity."