A confidential hotline has been set up by a local authority for people to report bad letting agents and landlords.

It opens today in Boston, Lincolnshire, an area notorious for a high immigration workforce and gangmasters.

Callers to the hotline will be asked to record their concerns about a property, landlord or letting agent in the borough. They will need to give the address of the property, a brief account of the issues and, if known, the name of the landlord.

Callers can choose whether or not to leave their own details.

If they do, it will be kept strictly confidential, although there may be occasions when the information is shared with the police and the Gangmasters Licensing Authority.

The hotline is a part of the Boston Borough Council’s Rogue Landlords initiative.

Borough council housing officer Kevin Martin said: “There are probably 1,000 landlords in Boston, and many are good landlords who have nothing to fear from this.

“Sadly, there are some who see profit before people and will take advantage of sometimes vulnerable people and have little regard for their wellbeing. These are the ones we are targeting.

“In many cases the landlord or letting agent would not let their own family live in properties with poor facilities, inadequate heating and insulation and non-serviced gas and electrical appliances.

“Houses that are multiple occupied should have a higher level of management and safety aspects simply because facilities are being provided for lots of people. Any landlord or letting agent who knowingly runs an HMO without adhering to the regulations should be identified as rogue.”

Since the Rogue Landlords initiative the council has visited several hundred properties, inspected over 100 and served around 50 notices requiring repairs and improvements.