A pair of Airbnb hosts have been accused of fatphobia after disallowing anyone weighing over 16 stone from staying at their cottage.
Hosts Zsu and Marcus, who listed their £199-a-night Bobbit's Lair cottage in Sandwich, Kent, said anyone with 'eating disorders' was unable to rent the property due to a 'maximum weight limit of 100kg [15.7 stone] PP'.
An onslaught of complaints from body positivity campaigners saw the insensitive listing taken down on Tuesday morning, but then relisted on Wednesday (2nd) removing references to eating disorders, but maintaining the weight limit, saying it was due to 'very old oak beams'.
Activist Lindsay McGlone, 22, slammed the 'discriminatory fatphobic' hosts and Airbnb for allowing the listing on its site.
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The home renting service has since removed the ad altogether, saying 'discrimination has no place in their community'.
Yet still, hosts Zsu and Marcus remain defiant that larger guests are not welcome at their cottage.
"We had someone ask about the bath size then how wide was he [sic] doors were," they said when approached for comment.
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"We said 'not suitable for disabled guests'.
"Then the penny dropped once they booked we had to cancel as the cottage could of [sic] got seriously damaged during 'their' stay.
"Understand the pictures are wide angle, bigger than average people are NOT ALLOWED TO STAY!"
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Self-professed 'fierce fat feminist' Lindsay from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, who advocates for fat people, publicly shamed the listing on her Instagram page.
"When I saw the listing I couldn't believe what I was reading, I couldn't comprehend that somebody would write that," said Lindsay, who is size 24.
"I shared the listing because the people who wrote it need to be held accountable because it's extremely damaging and I wanted it removed.
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"Specifying a certain weight is fatphobic as it's discriminating against people who have a larger body."
She went on: "They're saying they don't want fat people in their vicinity and they don't want to take fat people's money.
"It's probably come from internalised fatphobia and now they're trying to justify it by saying they've got old oak in their house.
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"That doesn't take away from the fact that they're still being discriminatory, it's trying to find a way to justify what they've said. It's absolutely appalling."
The listing originally stipulated 'NO persons with eating disorders may book, we have a maximum weight 100KG PP' then was later changed to 'NO persons maximum weight 100kg PP very old oak beams' before the ad was removed from the site altogether.
Lindsay added: "Somebody with an eating disorder doesn't have to look a certain way, some are larger, some are smaller, this listing reinforces that they do.
"Society discriminates against fat people daily. I've always been fat, comfortable with my weight and the term 'fat'.
"People think that fat people need to lose weight in order to fit in and that somebody who's fat should always need to lose weight when in fact you can just be fat and happy.
"I've been fat all my life, I don't need to change."
The property in Sandwich was advertised as a 'fine medieval' 15th century two-bedroom cottage, featuring a hot tub in the garden.
An Airbnb spokesman said: "Airbnb's mission is to create a world where everyone can belong anywhere.
"Discrimination and bias have no place in our community, and we have suspended the listing while we address the matter raised.
"We enforce a strict non-discrimination policy and under our Open Doors initiative, if a guest feels they have been discriminated against, we will provide personalised support to ensure they find a place to stay."
Featured Image Credit: Kennedy News and MediaTopics: airbnb, Life News, Home, Life