Brent Council is set to take legal action against a landlord who had 16 people living in their crammed two-bedroom flat in Kingsbury.

Council enforcement officers went into the flat, above a shop, with police and found the tenants were three times the number of people who would be allowed to live there under licensing rules.

Mattresses, bunkbeds and sofa beds had been packed together in the flat’s two bedrooms and living room, within the poorly ventilated flat.

Not only was the property packed, but during the raid on May 24, staff found the fire escapes blocked and a smoke alarm hanging off the ceiling.

One resident told officers that he was paying £50 a week for a bed space.

If all of the flat’s tenants were paying the same rates, the landlord may have been pocketing around £3,200 a month.

Cllr Eleanor Southwood, cabinet member for housing and welfare reform, said: “Rogue landlords exploiting their tenants by forcing them to live in Dickensian conditions should be on notice - we will take the strongest possible enforcement action to protect our residents.”