JAHANGIR Hanif is a wealthy businessman who owns properties across west Scotland.

But the SNP councillor has had to fight claims he is operating as a slum landlord, despite campaigning against poor housing.

It was reported last month that he pockets £500 a month for a flat in Westmoreland Street, Govanhill, occupied by a family of five Romanians, who sell the Big Issue.

Nearby residents claim the flat's close is littered with drugs equipment, graffiti and rubbish.

The street is nicknamed Ground Zero' by local people because of the poor state of the area.

Mr Hanif has owned the property since 2004 and it is listed on the council's Register Of Interests, in which all councillors must state businesses or jobs that earn them money.

At a housing meeting in his Govanhill ward, Mr Hanif promised to bring Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to the street to show her how bad it is. However, he failed to mention he owns a flat there.

Mr Hanif told the meeting of 200 local people it was wrong for landlords to keep the properties in poor condition.

Furious locals say the street has become a dumping ground, with rubbish in the backyards attracting rats and infestations of cockroaches and maggots.

The flat owned by Mr Hanif is at the top level of a dilapidated common close, where the ceiling has gaping holes and the plaster is falling off the walls.

However, Mr Hanif denied accusations he is a slum landlord. He said: "The flat was clean. I have no control over the close.

"It is a bad property, they all are in the street. I have tried to put the street at the top of the political agenda."

His eldest daughter Noor, 17, claimed her father cut costs in the family home in Newton Mearns when the property was being renovated.

She said: "It was like a bomb site. The neighbours complained and jobs in the house were done on the cheap."

Mr Hanif owns flats across Glasgow at addresses in Cathcart Road; West Princes Street, near Charing Cross; Otago Street, Kelvinbridge; and Barrland Street, Pollokshields, as well as properties in Ayrshire.

He is also listed as owning the Seabank Nursing Home in Saltcoats, Ayrshire.

His family say he is also building a property empire in his native Pakistan.

The Evening Times revealed last month Mr Hanif was facing court action over a flood hit-flat.

Stewart Daniels, 61, has launched a legal fight against Mr Hanif to claw back thousands of pounds he has spent repairing water damage to his home.

Mr Daniels lives below a flat rented out by the councillor in Barrland Street.

The councillor has been summoned to appear at Glasgow Sheriff Court this month over the dispute.

Mr Daniels said: "You expect someone in public office to do work for the good of the people, but all he seems to be doing is benefiting himself."