Landlords who illegally crammed tenants into a rental property and allowed rubbish to pile up on the street outside have been fined more than £85,000.

Thames Magistrates Court heard how the rat-infested home, in Napier Road, Leytonstone, had been passed around a number of agents, who were all making money on the rental.

The property was permitted to house five tenants, but the court heard the house was poorly-managed and 15 people had been living there.

The property had been handed to agent Asjit Singh Teja, director of J Amber Propertie, for a sum of £2,000 per month, and then given to Mamataj Konica for the sum of £3,000 per month.

Konica then let out the property as bedsits for an estimated rental income of more than £4,000 per month.

Mr Teja and Ms Konica failed to licence the property under Waltham Forest Council’s property licensing scheme and were fined £75,000 and £10,000 respectively for the breach of rules.

Costs of more than £3,000 were also awarded to the council.

Cllr Khevyn Limbajee, council cabinet member for housing, said: “This is one of the worst cases of landlords disregarding the law and using people to make money that I have seen.

“This kind of thing can’t be tolerated. The reason we have a licencing scheme is to protect people from unscrupulous landlords.

“In addition to this, because of the terrible state of the home, and the number of occupants inside, it also created additional problems for other residents through noise and rubbish.

“I am really pleased that the court saw fit to hand down such large fines.”