AN UNSAFE boiler and gas oven has landed a Hyndburn landlord with a suspended prison sentence - after an investigation prompted by housing bosses in East Anglia.

Property owner Steven Ladell, from Great Harwood, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive after serious faults were uncovered at a house in King’s Lynn last year.

One of his tenants had approached housing standards officials at King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Council, complaining about the state of his boiler and oven.

Each of the pieces of equipment were found to be in a poor state of repair and unsafe, according to HSE inspectors.

And when Ladell failed to provide any paperwork, showing routine safety checks and servicing had been undertaken, he was brought to court by the agency.

Ladell, of St Hubert’s Road, pleaded guilty to breaching gas safety regulations and to breaching an improvement notice when he appeared before Norwich Magistrates Court.

He was given a 20-week prison sentence by magistrates, suspended for two years, and ordered to carry out 100 hours community service. Ladell will also have to pay court costs of £4,146.

Magistrates heard that the appliances in question had not been regularly inspected or maintained, and there were no landlord gas safety certificates available for a number of years, which he was legally obliged to provide.

An improvement notice was served by the HSE in July 2017 but no adequate remedial action was taken, the court was told.

Later HSE inspector Paul Unwin said: “ Landlords must ensure gas appliances at their tenanted properties are checked by a Gas Safe registered engineer at least every 12 months, and are maintained in a safe condition.

“The HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below the required standards.”

Councils are required to report all instances where landlords fail to provide the necessary paperwork to the HSE and support any subsequent prosecutions.

Coun Adrian Lawrence, from West Norfolk Council, said after the case: “The various regulations concerning the private rented sector are there to ensure tenants’ safety in their homes.

“This case very clearly demonstrates the seriousness of the breaches and is a reminder to private sector landlords of their obligation to ensure gas appliances they provide are checked and inspected on an annual basis.”