A landlord has failed to gain immediate possession of his property after it was sub-let by his tenant.

It is claimed that the couple living in the flat had no idea that the person who had let the property to them did not own it, while the landlord said he did not know his property had been sub-let – something that was challengegd in court.

The landlord who failed to get his flat back did not name the people actually living in the property on the notice.

In August last year Avik Banerjee and Katarzyna Kobylkain answered an advert on Gumtree for a flat to rent in Bristol.

They met the man who placed the advert, Joe Pike, saw the flat and signed a tenancy agreement with him, paying £450 a month.

In May this year Nazir Ahmed suddenly walked into their flat, revealed himself as the owner and said they would have to quit.

The next day the couple were told their rent would be going up to £650 a month.

The couple involved the police, Bristol City Council’s housing team and tenants’ rights group Acorn.

They were issued with an eviction notice in June which merely said “Joe Pike and other tenants”.

The tenants challenged the notice and in Bristol Civil Justice Court claimed that Ahmed and Pike were “working together” and that Ahmed knew they were living at the property.

Pike admitted he had left his tenancy at the end of May 2015, but kept a set of keys for the flat and subsequently sub-let the property to the couple.

The judge agreed that the couple should be given two months’ notice to leave the property, reports the Bristol Post