A landlord has been found guilty of persistently allowing overcrowding in a flat in Folkestone Road - forcing a pregnant woman to share a bed with two children.

Stratos Efstratiou was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,290 after ignoring an order that required him to reduce the number of occupiers.

Following a complaint from the tenant early in 2013, an inspection of the flat showed it was overcrowded and a small room of less than six metres squared was being used as a bedroom.

The landlord failed to reduce the overcrowding and a further inspection showed a pregnant woman and her two children were all sleeping in one bed in the small room.

On August 8, 2013, the district council served a probation order to limit the number of occupants in the flat and stop the use of the small room as a bedroom.

Visits by the council in December last year and January revealed the flat was still overcrowded and the small room was also being used as a bedroom - meaning the landlord had ignored the requirements of the order.

Following a trial at Folkestone Magistrates' Court Efstratiou was found guilty of two offences of failing to comply with the order.