Sir Alan Sugar criticises Airbnb 'scammers' after family of six turns up at his London property for holiday

An Airbnb scam saw an American family turn up to Sir Alan Sugar's house believing they had booked it, the peer has claimed.

The business magnate, 72, said six people arrived at one of his London properties on Thursday expecting to rent it for three days.

Fraudsters took a picture of the property from an estate agent website and used it in an advert on the accommodation website to lure in unsuspecting tourists, according to Sir Alan.

The family are said to have paid more than $600 (£465) believing they had secured a bargain deal for a luxurious stay.

Sir Alan wrote on Twitter: "WARNING AIRBNB SCAM: Yesterday a American family of 6 turned up at one of my properties in London. They had been scammed to think they could rent it for 3 days. The scammers took a photo from an estate agents website and stole over $600 from these poor people. B*******."

A representative for the star of The Apprentice, who owns a vast portfolio of properties across the UK, refused to comment further on the alleged scam when approached by The Telegraph.

But an Airbnb spokesperson said they were investigating.

The company said: "We were disappointed to hear about this experience and are looking into the matter.

"More than 2 million people check-in to Airbnb listings each night and while bad experiences are incredibly rare, we work hard to make things right when they do occur."