A BARROW landlord whose flats were described as “death traps” is the most heavily fined of any prosecuted landlord in the country.

The £21,200 bill being stumped up by the Furness landlord came to light after a database containing the names of hundreds of convicted private landlords was made public for the first time.

It shows that 2,006 individuals and companies nationally were fined almost £3m for housing offences under the Housing Act 2004 between 2006 and 2014.

The database was produced before Barrow Borough Council’s successful prosecution of Richard Ivan Ross was complete. But council officials drew attention to their prosecution after noting the cash punishments handed to Ross ranked among the very worst in the country.

The breaches related to Ross’ three self-contained flats inside 14 School Street, Barrow. All were being lived in when council officials had significant concerns for the tenants’ health and safety due to issues with electrics, heating, security and fire detection.

When the problems were not satisfactorily dealt with, the council prosecuted. The charges were made against Ross and his company Ross Accommodation Ltd – but as he is the sole director, the entire case was essentially against him.

The case went before Furness Magistrates’ Court on June 1 and was proven in Ross’ absence. The six fines against Ross, of Wallings Lane, Silverdale, and his company totalled £19,000.

But the overall amount he must pay climbed to £21,200 when court costs and victim surcharges were added. According to the database, previously the most prosecuted landlord in England is London-based property owner, Katia Goremsandu, who has been convicted seven times and fined a total of £16,565.

The single highest fine on the database is a £9,520 penalty received by a London landlord for renting out an over-crowded, dangerous property. Private landlord criminal offences in Barrow are rare.

The database says there has been only one other since 2006 – and that person was fined £3,000.

Councillor Kevin Hamilton, Barrow council spokesman for housing, said: “All private landlords have a duty to keep their properties in good repair. “If any property falls below the minimum legal standards, the council will take appropriate enforcement action.

“As a last resort this may involve a criminal prosecution. In this case we are pleased that the court has found in our favour and sent out a strong message about the importance of the welfare of private tenants.”

Chris Jones, property services group manager with Barrow council, said that when the presiding magistrate imposed the fine on Ross, the flats were described as “death traps”.

The first complaint about the flats was received at the end of 2012. Council officers inspected the property and found various problems, and all three were being rented.

The council put a prohibition order on the flats – and it was the breaches of those which landed Ross in court, after the council was satisfied that tenants had still been allowed to live there without the problems having been properly addressed.

Mr Jones said: “To put a prohibition order on, you have to consider that there is a serious risk to the health and safety of the occupants – and we did.

“The combination of inadequate heating, lack of hot water, lack of security, electrics we felt were unsafe, lack of fire protection in a three-storey building with multiple occupancy – all those add up to a substantial risk, which is what we’re duty-bound to look at.”