A landlord from Slough, Berkshire, has been fined for serious safety breaches.

Mohammed Nawaz, 25, was found to have left a family in potential danger for almost four years after he failed repeatedly to check gas appliances in a property he rented out to them.

Mr Nawaz was prosecuted for two offences of breaching gas safety regulations, plus a further offence of failing to comply with an enforcement notice.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which carried out the investigation, told Slough Magistrates' Court that it found the gas appliances in the property had not been maintained and checked and the family had not been provided with a Landlord's Gas Safety record.

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Nawaz had a legal duty to check the gas appliances in properties he rented every 12 months, but between June 2010 and February 2014, no such checks were carried out. When a Gas Safe Register engineer visited the property, a boiler was classed as 'At Risk' because of an inadequate seal around the flue and incorrectly-sized gas supply pipes to the boiler.

Despite warnings and an enforcement notice from HSE, as well as an abatement notice from the local council requiring him to comply with the law, Mr Nawaz failed to respond, placing the family at continuous risk.

Mr Nawaz, of Bath Road, Slough, Berkshire, was fined a total of £9,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £3,941 after admitting two breaches of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations and a further charge of non-compliance with a HSE Improvement Notice.

(JP/MH)