After unsuccessfully suing their landlord, a family has been ordered to pay all of the outstanding debt they accrued from rent arrears. They have now offered to pay the landlord back in full over a period of 37 years.

At the court hearing Mr and Mrs Smith said that they had to pay massive heating bills because their central heating system was not fit for use in their rented home. This was the reason why they withheld rent payments.

The judge did agree that the property was "sub standard", however the couple could not supply a tenancy agreement that covered the full time that they had lived in the property,

The judge ruled in favour of the landlord because the Smiths were unable to provide the document and subsequently they were ordered to pay the outstanding rent of £3,500.

The Smiths have offered to repay the debt to the landlord and are claiming that they can only afford £2 a week.

The family has since moved to another property and Mrs Smith said: “As we thought it would, it came back saying it was not an acceptable offer, but it is all we can afford.

“We filled in our means forms, and with all the income and outgoings, and that is what it said we could give.

“They’ve said no, but since then we haven’t heard anything about it.”

She strongly disagreed with the ruling and also said: “It was not right, but unless you’ve got money, and we haven’t, it is very hard to appeal formally.”