A man has been fined £3,350 and ordered to pay costs of almost £900 for converting the upstairs of a public house into flats without applying for building regulation consent.

Javid Iqbal of 3 Lime Tree Avenue, Peterborough, attended Peterborough Magistrates' Court on Tuesday 19 April 2011 and pleaded guilty to the offence under section 35 of the Building Act 1984.

The court heard that Mr Iqbal converted the upstairs of the Windmill public house on Lincoln Road, Peterborough, into four self-contained flats without applying for building regulation consent. The Building Act 1984 stipulates that before building work is carried out a building regulation application must be submitted to the relevant authority, in this case Peterborough City Council.

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Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue service contacted the city council's building control team in September 2010 following a fire at the property. An inspecion by the building control team indicated that there were a number of breaches of fire regulations, one of which was a lack of windows suitable for escape.

Had Mr Iqbal applied for building regulation consent, the city council's building control would have ensured that the work met the regulatory requirements and that escape windows were provided.

Mr Iqbal was fined £3,350 and ordered to pay costs of £899 and a £15 victim surcharge. Magistrates told Mr Iqbal that he had only avoided the maximum fine of £5,000 due to his early guilty plea.

Alistair Reid, Building Control Manager for Peterborough City Council, said: "The Building Act is there to protect members of the public and to ensure that alterations made to buildings are carried out safely and not in breach of building regulations. The level of fine imposed in this case should illustrate how seriously the courts take a breach of the act.

"In general, most building work requires building regulation approval, including home extensions such as larger conservatories or loft conversions, replacement windows, replacing roof coverings and garage conversions. If in doubt, please contact the building control team for advice."

(CD/KMcA)