The family of an 80-year-old landlord fined for failing to maintain a block of flats in Wisbech has stepped in to manage repair work.

Local media report the family only become aware recently of the issues at the flats, after  Paul Coulten was fined £4,550 for offences including having a non-working fire alarm system and defects to the fire doors.

Retired businessman Coulten had not told his family of his dispute with Fenland council, which culminated in a tribunal hearing.

Coulten’s wife told the Wisbech Standard: “We want to put this behind us. We have some particularly good tenants in the flats – one I believe has been there for 20 years.”

She said her husband’s declining health and his unwillingness to share information had led to the problems that have happened over the past two years.

Last week Landlord Today reported that the £4,550 fine has been upheld after an appeal by the landlord was rejected by a tribunal.

Fenland council served five civil penalty notices on Coulten earlier this year for failing to rectify safety hazards at the block of flats he owned.

He appealed one of the penalty notices relating to defective windows; the tribunal dismissed the appeal.

Fenland council officers first inspected the block of three flats in Wisbech in early 2018 and identified significant breaches of regulations including non-working fire alarm system and defects to the fire doors; building defects including damp, severely worn carpets on the stairs, insufficient heating and inadequate security; and defective, warped and rotting windows

The council served improvement notices requiring remedial works but these were not completed within the specified time scale or not to the standard required.