A pair of landlords have been ordered to pay out nearly £80,000 in fines after renting out two illegally converted flats over eight years.

Multan Singh, 56, and Jagir Kaur, 51, turned a four-bedroom apartment in Rowallen Parade, Dagenham, into two, two-bed flats in 2009.

They applied for retrospective planning permission three years later, which Barking and Dagenham Council rejected.

Each was issued with confiscation orders totalling £37,500 at Snaresbrook Crown Court on October 6, plus a £1,650 fine and £165 statutory surcharge.

Singh and Kaur had failed to comply with an enforcement notice telling them to stop using the property as two separate flats, and to remove all relevant fittings and alterations from the conversion.

Council officers found the property was still being rented to two families as individual flats during inspections last October and in January.

Both declined to respond to letters on the issue, and did not co-operate with the investigation prior to being charged, the council said.