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Airbnb has apologised to a New Zealand family who found a hidden camera in the Irish house where they were staying.

The Barkers discovered the device concealed in a smoke alarm in the living room of the Cork property last month.

Mum-of-five Nealie told how they were “very frightened” and added: “It was late at night but we decided fairly quickly we didn’t feel comfortable about staying at the house.

“There is no way to know whether the camera was recording. We asked the host but he refused to answer. We also asked if it was recording audio, again he refused to answer.

“He later called back and admitted there was only one hidden camera and that he had installed it to ‘protect his asset’.”

Nealie said in a Facebook post: “We are avid Airbnb users. We love the platform.

(Image: Nealie Barker Facebook)

“We just found a camera hidden in a smoke alarm case in the private living room of a listing. We were travelling with children.

“The host admitted to the concealed camera over the phone, only after presented with our irrefutable proof.”

She said that her husband Andrew, an IT consultant, discovered the camera on March 3 while scanning the network.

She told New Zealand IT website Stuff: “He scanned that device’s ports and found the live video feed. We were all watching ourselves on his mobile phone.

“We have encountered lots of weird and wonderful things and like to think we take most things in our stride. However this was shocking.”

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According to the Barkers they were promised that a thorough investigation would be carried out by Airbnb.

However, they said they received a follow-up message from the company saying that no wrong-doing was on their part.

Ms Barker said that people who stay in Airbnb properties should be legally obliged to tell guests if their image has been caught on a hidden camera during their stay.

She added: “This protects guests and also gives reassurance to the many great hosts that their livelihood is being protected by weeding out the bad hosts.”

A spokesperson for Airbnb told Stuff website in response that its original handling of the incident “did not meet the high standards we set for ourselves, and we have apologised to the family and fully refunded their stay”.

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The company states that cameras are not allowed to be concealed or allowed in the bathrooms or bedrooms of their hosting properties.

The spokesperson added: “We have a zero-tolerance stance when it comes to violations and we immediately remove anyone who has violated the policy.”

In a further statement to the Irish Mirror last night, a company spokesman said: “The safety and privacy of our community – both online and offline – is our priority.

"Airbnb policies strictly prohibit hidden cameras in listings and we take reports of any violations extremely seriously. We have permanently removed this bad actor from our platform.”