A landlord who converted a house into two flats without planning permission has been ordered to pay £108,000 following legal action by a local authority.

Mohamed Omar Hassibi, 64, was prosecuted for breaching a planning enforcement notice requiring him to revert his property back to a single dwelling.

At a sentencing and confiscation hearing at Isleworth Crown Court, Hassibi, who previously pleaded guilty, was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay the council’s costs of £7,000.

The court also imposed a confiscation order of £100,000, requiring Hassibi to pay the sum within three months or face going to jail for four months.

The prosecution was brought jointly by Hillingdon Council’s planning enforcement team and a trading standards task force that specialises in recovering proceeds of crimes.

Cllr Ray Puddifoot, leader of the council, said: “Mr Hassibi was generating a large rental income – around £2,000 a month – from unwitting tenants and it’s only right that he should hand over the money he earned from his illegal activity.

“We are committed to ensuring that crime does not pay in Hillingdon.”