Sewage seeped into a bath after a property management company took more than a year to get a blocked toilet fixed, a Court heard.

West Yorkshire Lettings, of Russell Street, Keighley, has been fined £10,000 after director Hameed Islam pleaded guilty yesterday to failing to comply with improvement notices at two houses in the town.

Islam, 28, of Canal Road, Riddlesden, admitted two charges against himself and three on behalf of the company.

Prosecutor Harjit Ryatt told Bradford Magistrates Court that tenants at a house in Wesley Place, Keighley, complained to the Council about a blocked toilet in July 2010.

Officers found evidence of water leakage, a lack of handrails on steps and an unprotected drop of a metre-and-a-half from the patio to the garden, Mr Ryatt said.

A notification of works notice was served on the company on August 12, 2010, but by June, 2011, the works had not been carried out and an improvement notice was issued, which was ignored.

Officers who visited the property in 2011 found sewage from the toilet was seeping into the plughole in the bath.

The company also failed to make improvements to a property in Victoria Road, Keighley. Officers found an absence of heating, bannisters missing from staircases and mould growth.

An improvement notice, served in August, 2011, was not complied with.

In both cases tenants were allowed to move in to the properties before the issues were resolved.

Mr Ryatt said: “Clearly, to have sewage seeping back into the bath where families are resident is not a satisfactory state of affairs.”

Magistrate Michael Kester-ton said: “The fact there was effluent in the house, people living there and sewage – you wouldn’t want to be in that room would you, so why put other people in that position?”

The company was fined £5,000 each for two of the charges against it, ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge and costs of £3,600, making a total required payment of £13,615.

The court was told all the improvements have now been made. Islam’s father was the landlord of one of the houses and the defendant had faced problems communicating to him that the work needed to be done.

Two charges of failing to comply with a notice against Abdul Islam, of East Avenue, were not pursued.

In mitigation for Hameed Islam, Sajad Chaudhury said his client had no previous convictions, and had faced a “steep learning curve”.

He said the company’s customers were mainly people requiring social housing, and some damage had been caused by tenants.

David Shepherd, Bradford Council’s assistant director for regeneration and culture, said: “This is a great result and shows that we will not tolerate those landlords and managing agents who choose to ignore their responsibilities.

“We are always keen to work with landlords to provide safe and healthy homes for tenants and prosecution is a last resort. Tenants who have asked their landlord to carry out repairs and are concerned that the landlord is ignoring their requests should contact the Council's Housing Standards Team.”