Lettings website SpareRoom.co.uk has admitted that its own rules were breached after what it advertised as a £530-a-month large double room was actually just a mattress inside a wooden shack in the corner of a living room.

Joe Peduzzi, 22, was hoping to find himself a place to live after finding a job in London.

He was encouraged by the SpareRoom.co.uk ad but horrified when he discovered that what the site was actually advertising was nothing more than a mattress inside a wooden hut in a communal lounge.

The room was advertised at £480 a month for rent, with £50 thrown in to split bills with the other three housemates.

The advert, which has since been removed, read: “The room is the biggest in the house and comes with a sofa which means sharing it with the rest of us sometimes.

“We are on the search for a laid back happy-go-lucky type that’s sociable, open-minded and creative.”

When EYE contacted SpareRoom.co.uk yesterday it admitted its guidelines had been breached, but did not say why the ad, which has since been removed, had made it through to the site in the first place.

Director Matt Hutchinson said: “This particular ad does breach our rules as there is a clear invasion of privacy.

“While we do moderate for scams and spam, there’s not much we can do to protect against people being misleading in their advertisements. This is why we rely on our users’ vigilance as the final piece in the protection we provide.”

Hutchinson insisted SpareRoom.co.uk employed a team of moderators, but added it also relied on the honesty of advertisers and on users to report any “inappropriate” ads.

He added: “All ads must be in line with our terms and conditions. We take steps to scan adverts that are posted to our site for spam and scams. This is done by both automatic systems and manually by our team of moderators.

“We also have a ‘report ad’ function for users to flag ads they think are inappropriate with a click of a button, so our moderators can look into them.”

Luckily Peduzzi saw the funny side. He said: “I was laughing to myself down the road back to the Tube.”

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