Dickens was said to be the biggest landlord in the county of Conwy

District judge Andrew Shaw granted the two-year order after accepting that Steven Dickens, 41, had made "sinister threats" against council officials.

The court also heard he controlled his tenants with "overtones of threats."

After the case, the housing charity Shelter Cymru said they had seen at first hand the misery Dickens, from Llandudno, had caused his tenants.

Rachman

The district judge said after a five-day hearing at Llandudno that he believed the claim that Dickens had referred to himself as a Rachman - the notorious slum landlord in London in the 1950s and 60s.

Dickens had been dismissive of tenants' rights and legal remedies and had sought to control the tenants with overtones of threats, he said.

Under the terms of the ASBO granted on Friday Dickens cannot use abusive, offensive, threatening or intimidating language or behaviour in a public place.

He is also banned from unlawfully depriving a tenant of accommodation or taking any unlawful step to interfere with the "peace or comfort of a tenant" including the withdrawal of services.

He cannot attend Conwy Council's housing headquarters or approach an authority housing official except by prior appointment.

Andrew Bowden, the council's head of housing, later said it showed that anti-social behaviour laws can bring to task individuals who do not operate their business in a reasonable manner, causing suffering and distress.

It also protected council staff undertaking their respective roles, he said.