COUNCIL officials say they are continuing to tackle rogue landlords - despite failing to contribute any names to a national government database.

Not a single name has been added to the official database, which launched in April.

The government estimated before the launch of the database that there were 10,500 rogue landlords operating in England, and said it expected more than 600 of the worst offenders to be entered into the system.

Officials from the conurbation have said they are "proactively" targeting rogue landlords.

Kelly Ansell, head of communities, enforcement and regulatory services, said: “Bournemouth and Poole continue to be vigilant and highly proactive when taking action against rogue landlords.

"Bournemouth Borough Council has recently launched a targeted enforcement service which concentrates on dealing with anti-social behaviour, crime and housing standards issues in the private rented sector.

"This team will proactively investigate and tackle rogue landlords.

"In addition, our private sector housing enforcement team will continue to make use of the range of statutory powers available to the council in improving housing standards and taking criminal landlords to task."

Bournemouth's Operation Galaxy, which is spearheaded by the council and Dorset Police, has been running since 2012. Its aim is to improve the quality of some of the town's housing stock by taking on slum landlords and ensuring properties meet housing regulations.

Dedicated officers have also been targeting problematic houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) in Boscombe.

In recent months, a former HMO in the Churchill Gardens area has been turned back into flats.

Ms Ansell said: "In order to make a submission to the government’s new rogue landlord database, there needs to be strong evidence collected leading to a subsequent prosecution.

"This process can take time and landlords have a right to appeal. We are actively pursuing a number of cases, and we are confident in our stance and procedures to pursue rogue landlords."

Prime minister Theresa May has pledged to give tenants access to the database after a Guardian and ITV News investigation revealed that not a single name had been entered into the system in more than six months since its launch.

Initially, the contents of the database were due to be kept privately. However, the government now says it "intends to make information in the database available to prospective and existing tenants".