A landlord has been fined after failing to deal with a faulty drain which led to a rat infestation.

Aslam Javid Dogar, of Lime Walk, Headington, admitted failing to comply with a legal notice served under the Prevention of Damage by Pests Act, when he appeared at Oxford Magistrates' Court.

He was fined a total of £365 and issued with a £112.10 repair bill by Oxford City Council after failing to fix the fault at a house in Cardwell Crescent, Headington.

Environmental health officers visited the house in May after a call from tenants and found an extension had been built over a drain with the rodents able to get into the cavity wall.

Dogar was given until June 4 to rectify the problem, but when officers returned to the property on June 9 they found no repairs had been made.

Neighbours had also complained to the council and said they had seen rats in their gardens.

One man, who refused to be named, said: "It has been pretty bad. We kept seeing them out the back of the house and finding dead ones on the grass.

"It was a worry. Besides the effects they can have on your health, they're also a real danger to properties and people were quite concerned."

Another man said he had laid poison to try and deal with the rats.

Ed Turner, the city council's executive member for housing, said: "This is yet another case of a landlord letting his tenants and the wider community down.

"The message to landlords is clear — if you don't meet your obligations to your tenants and to the wider community, we will prosecute you."