A landlord has received almost £60,000 in fines after he refused to adhere to warnings about arranging an annual gas check at a property in Accrington.

Tariq Ali was given many opportunities by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to arrange an inspection for a property on Persia Street after the previous gas safety record expired in October 2012.

He was fined £40,000 and ordered to pay £18,054 in prosecution costs after pleading guilty to single breaches of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 and the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

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Trafford Magistrates' Court heard that he first came to the attention of the Gas Safe Register in 2011 after gas appliances at several of his properties were classified as being 'at risk' or 'immediately dangerous'.

Mr Ali was served with an improvement notice relating to the property on Persia Street on 12 September 2013, giving him one month to arrange an annual gas safety check. However, he failed to meet the deadline.

HSE Inspector Stuart Kitchingman said: "Mr Ali put his tenants' lives at risk for financial gain by failing to arrange a gas safety check for nearly two years. We gave him several chances to organise an inspection, but he ignored all of these – including a formal improvement notice. We therefore had no choice but to take legal action."

(CD/IT)