A woman has been ordered to pay Wandsworth Council £23,000 after she sub-let her social housing property while living abroad.

Maria Sarabia-Ortiz sublet her property to various tenants over a period of more than five years.

The issue came to light when one of them contacted the council to report a lack of heating in the property.

An investigation found two individuals had been paying £600 a month per bedroom via bank transfer to Ms Sarabia-Ortiz.

The rooms had been advertised on Spareroom.com

Ms Sarabia-Ortiz originally denied wrong-doing but later admitted to County Courtshe knew what she was doing was not allowed.