A director and two property companies have been fined £25,000 after a mum and child were found living illegally in a “squalid” converted pub.

Barking and Dagenham Post: The Bull re-opened as an African supermarket last yearThe Bull re-opened as an African supermarket last year (Image: Archant)

Officers found the pair living in a bedsit at The Bull, in Rainham Road South, Dagenham, which had faulty and dangerous wiring, earlier this year.

Nikolay Nikolov, previously the director of NKK Property Limited until its dissolution, along with Milegate Ltd and NKK Property London Limited, pleaded guilty to not licensing the pub as a multi-occupancy home.

Council officers discovered Nikolov was an agent of freehold-owners Milegate Ltd, which leased the pub to NKK Property.

He also acted as managing agent and rent collector for NKK.

Milegate Ltd and NKK Property London were both fined £10,000 and forced to pay costs of £570 each at Barkingside Magistrates’ Court on September 30.

Nikolov was fined £5,000 and forced to pay costs of £570.

Cllr Laila Butt, cabinet member for enforcement and community safety, said: “We will not tolerate landlords renting out squalid, dangerous and overcrowded properties just to make a quick buck.”