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Duffield landlord fined
A landlord was fined £200 after a tenant complained of the cold in an 18th century Belper house.
Council staff found electrical problems, rotting window frames, an accident risk on spiral stairs and the front door so badly fitted that it would not stay shut.
Barry Staley, 60, was given three months to carry out repairs to the three-storey home on Crown Terrace, Bridge Street but missed the March 31 deadline.
He admitted failing to comply with an improvement notice. As well as the fine, he must pay the 175 costs of Amber Valley Borough Council and a 15 government surcharge.
Angela Fox, prosecuting, said environmental health officers received a complaint from the tenant Jill Wood that the home was "suffering from disrepair."
Housing manager David Arkle visited the premises in November last year "and was immediately struck by how cold it was inside." He later made a detailed examination and found;
Rear windows were all in a state of disrepair with missing putty and glass, rotting wood and were in such poor condition that he feared opening them in case they fell out
A kitchen window was patched with hardboard and had plastic tacked to the outside to try and keep rain out, the other kitchen window was rotten
The bathroom window was in bad condition with daylight clearly visible in a bottom corner, the tenant had tried to block the draught with makeshift insulation
The spiral stairs had no handrails and poor lighting in parts "making the likelihood of an accident quite high," exposed wires were visible in a nearby wall and there were concerns over electrical installations
There was a lack of heating with an open fire in the living room and storage heaters in two bedrooms, with no heating on the top floor bedroom, leaving Ms Wood to complain of "excess cold."
Staley of Hazelwood Road, Duffield had got a 4,892-POUND grant to replace the windows in the house, which was built in 1792 and is on a national list of historic homes. But the cash was not paid because he failed to do the work quickly enough, said Miss Fox.
Staley, who is also a pub landlord, later repaired the front door as well as putting lights and handrails on the stairs, she added.
He said illness in his family had made it "very difficult to sort things out" but he said the windows had now finally been replaced, after twice giving the work to firms which had gone bust.
He said Miss Wood had made access difficult and was responsible for internal decorations. She objected to gas fires, claiming they gave her headaches.
Staley added:"I don't like to decry her but she is a single person with children in her late thirties who has never worked. I would describe her as like a new age hippy type of person.
"One minute she can be as nice as pie, the next minute she will not let you in the door," Staley told magistrates at Ilkeston.
Presiding JP Richard Hodgkinson, who was shown photographs of the house, told him:"Jobs need doing."
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Weather for Belper
Sunday 05 February 2012
Today
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Temperature: 2 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: West
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