An Oxford woman has been fined for leaving building waste and rubbish piled up outside her house for months.

Robina Yasmin, of Bullingdon Road, failed to appear before Oxford Magistrates' Court.

She was convicted in her absence of failing to comply with a notice under the Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949, relating to a house she owned in Cricket Road.

Yasmin was fined £300 and ordered to pay £243 towards Oxford City Council's prosecution costs - and will also be billed £724.20 for the work to clear the property.

Ian Wright, council public health team manager, told the Oxford Mail: "If there is a pile of rubbish and we believe it's got some health implications, for example if it is acting as harbourage for rats, we have a duty to do something about it.

"It was one of the worst ones we have dealt with, largely because it was visible from the street, was at the front of the property and it was clearly a problem.

"We'd had a number of rat calls down Cricket Road as well, so that was another concern."

He added: "It wasn't moving and it had clearly been there for some time and was potentially linked with rats so as far as we were concerned it was quite a high priority."

The council served a notice on Yasmin in August and, when no action was taken, cleared the waste away in October.

If Yasmin, fined on Friday, January 25, fails to pay the clearance costs, it will be charged against the property when it is sold.