A LANDLORD has been fined £10,000 for putting his tenants at risk by failing to carry out gas safety checks.

Rashid Hussain was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after he ignored repeated warnings to arrange an annual visit by a registered gas engineer to a property in Longshaw Lane, Blackburn.

Blackburn Magistrates’ Court heard Mr Hussain had provided proof to his tenant, a couple and their six young children, of a gas safety check when he first rented out the property in September 2008.

But the 29-year-old failed to get a registered gas engineer to carry out another check a year later.

He was served with an Improvement Notice by HSE in November 2010, requiring him to arrange an inspection within 21 days, but he failed to act on this.

Mr Hussain, of Walter Street, Blackburn, admitted breaches of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 and the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. He was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £8,000 in prosecution cost.

HSE Inspector Matt Greenly said: “A young family have had to move out of the home they rented because their lives were being put at risk by Mr Hussain.

“He was happy to accept thousands of pounds in rent but refused to pay less than a hundred pounds for an annual gas safety check, despite receiving repeated warnings.

“Improvement notices should act as a final warning to individuals about complying with health and safety laws, and we will continue to prosecute in cases where notices are ignored.”

The court was told that Mr Hussain had also been prosecuted by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council in 2011 for two other offences at the same address.

He was found guilty of renting out the property without getting a suitable licence from the council, and ignoring an Improvement Notice issued after the house was found not to be in a fit state to live in. In that case, Mr Hussain was ordered to pay more than £10,000 in fines and costs, later reduced to just over £6,500 on appeal.