Two Epsom landlords have been fined over £20,000 after a 25-year-old musician was forced to jump three storeys from their death-trap building when it caught fire.

Musician Charlie Flynn, who fronts band Warehouse Republic, was forced to leap from the window of the attic room that he was renting from them at the property in Miles Road, Epsom on December 5.

After a fire caused by a faulty heater took hold, Mr Flynn's only escape was to throw himself through the window, leaving behind his guitars worth £3,000 and a rare collection of Beatles records.

He survived but suffered concussion and muscular skeletal injuries.

Landlords, Mr Ciesco and his sister Ms Ciesco, pleaded guilty to two offences against the housing act at Redhill Magistrates in June, the first being for breaching a prohibition order issued by Epsom and Ewell Council in February 2008.

At that time environmental health officers deemed the building to be ‘lacking in suitable fire protection and safe means of escape in case of fire' and considered the loft room, from which Mr Flynn jumped, a potential death-trap where any occupant would be likely killed or seriously injured if a fire started in any of the rooms on the ground or first floor.

The order prohibited the loft room from being as sleeping accommodation which the pair breached when they knowingly put Mr Flynn’s life in danger by allowing him to occupy the room.

The pair also admitted failing to licence a house in multiple occupation after the fire service reported that six occupants were living in the house at the time of the fire.

Fergus Nash, the council's environmental health officer said: "Mr Ciesco and Ms Ciesco blatantly disregarded a law designed to protect their tenants and their property from the devastating effects of fire."

The chair of the bench added that this was the worst case that he and his colleagues had seen in their combined court experience of over 100 years and that the landlords had wilfully disregarded their obligations.

Mr Ciesco was fined a total of £13,300 and Ms Ciesco £8,300 for breach of the Housing Act 2004. They were both also ordered to pay £1,121 towards the costs of the prosecution and £15 each towards a victims' surcharge.

A spokesperson for the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) added: "This is not so much a case of a bad landlord as of criminal irresponsibility.

"Thankfully such cases are rare.

"It points up the need for local accreditation schemes to allow councils to use scarce resources to better target landlords who violate regulations and for tenants to know better what they should be looking for when renting a property."

Mr Flynn, whose band launched another single in June, declined to comment.

For more information on planning issues visit epsom-ewell.go.uk or call 01372 732000.