A fake holiday-rental listing for 10 Downing Street was successfully created on Booking.com, prompting fresh concerns about fraud protection on major online travel platforms.

Consumer watchdog Which? said its researchers created the bogus listing in June using the exact address of the Prime Minister's official residence and a photograph of the famous black door.

The listing was presented as a “1 bedroom apartment in the heart of London” and claimed to be only four minutes from the Houses of Parliament. During a brief period when bookings were available, 14 people reportedly contacted the listing about staying there.

Researchers also managed to process a test payment and upload a deliberately fake review referring to Downing Street's famous cat, Larry. They said they were additionally able to send an external link requesting payment information through the platform's messaging system.

The listing was eventually removed on 27 August, after remaining on the platform for several weeks.

Which? described the findings as evidence of “systemic security failures” and called for regulatory scrutiny. Booking.com disputed the wider implications of the test, saying the property was not publicly visible or live for the entire period and that some automatic fraud controls were therefore not triggered.

The investigation is likely to intensify debate over online booking scams, fake reviews and whether digital travel platforms are doing enough to protect consumers.