Couple find spy camera in Airbnb f lat’s bedroom clock

POLICE have launched an investigation after a British couple found a spy camera pointed at their bed in an Airbnb flat.

Dougie Hamilton, 34, was on holiday in Toronto, when he became concerned about a bedside alarm clock in the Airbnb rental property.

Mr Hamilton’s suspicions were raised when he noticed a white wire, similar to a phone charging cable.

“We were only in the place for 20 minutes when I noticed the clock,” Mr Hamilton, from Glasgow, told the Daily Record. “We’d had a busy day around the city and finally were able to get to the Airbnb and relax.

“I just happened to be facing this clock and was staring at it for about 10 minutes. There was just something in my head that made me feel a bit uneasy.

“When I saw the clock, I thought, ‘Do I want to be the crazy guy that checks a digital clock for cameras now?’ I took the charger out of it and saw there was a lithium battery in the back. At this point, I slid the front facing off the clock and could see there actually was a camera.”

Mr Hamilton moved to a hotel for the remainder of his holiday, after Airbnb said it would cover the cost and offered him a full refund on his initial booking.

Police in Toronto are now investigating the incident, while Airbnb has removed the property’s listing from its website pending its own investigation.

A spokesman for Airbnb said: “We take privacy issues extremely seriously and have a zero-tolerance policy for this behaviour. We have removed the host from the platform while we investigate.”

Airbnb added that any security cameras at a property must be disclosed to guests and consent secured, but were not allowed in bathrooms or bedrooms.