A COUPLE transformed their Winton property into a block of five flats without the permission of the council.

Afseneh and Hosein Eslami, who live in Alma Road, face a financial penalty after admitting breaching an enforcement notice between November 2 2016 and February 6 of this year.

The two transformed a semi-detached property at 88 Alma Road into individual flats, each of which was then rented to tenants.

Officers at Bournemouth council issued an enforcement notice to the defendants on February 11 2016 demanding the property be restored to a single dwelling house.

The couple were given six months to evict their tenants and complete the works to the building.

However, nothing was done and the council took legal action against the pair.

On Friday, the defendants appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court after admitting the charge against them at Poole Magistrates' Court.

A judge heard that the pair cannot be sent to prison for the offence, but must instead face a possible fine.

Afseneh, 56, and Hosein, 62, are due to return to Bournemouth Crown Court for a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing and sentence in October.

The hearing has been listed for two hours.

Both were released on bail to appear at the court again in the autumn.

Speaking after the hearing, trading standards and planning enforcement manager Andy Sherriff said: "The property had been turned into five flats, each of which had tenants.

"An enforcement notice was issued, which allowed six months for the house to be returned to normal.

"However, this didn't happen and we then took the matter further as they were in breach of the notice.

"Since that time, we've been going through the processes needed to bring this matter to court."