A female hotel guest was left shaken after she turned on her TV to be greeted by a message threatening to rape her.
The unnamed guest had checked into the Whitemare Pool Travelodge in Gateshead earlier this week, the BBC reports.
The chain said it believed someone may have used the TV manufacturer’s code to change the settings. The guest, who asked not to be named said staff were “great about it", apologising and refunding her.
“This is incredibly upsetting,” tweeted journalist and feminist campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez.
She added: “Either it’s incredibly fucking creepy & scary – or it’s a ‘joke’. I’m not sure which is worse.”
The charity Eaves, which works towards gender equality and supporing women who have experienced violence pointed out: “If it said I’m going to blow you up, there’d be cops everywhere calling it terrorism.”
A Travelodge spokesman told Huffington Post UK: “We can confirm that a customer has advised us that an unauthorised message was placed on a television in one of our hotels.
“We have already been in contact with the customer involved and apologised that such a message could appear.
“We take the security of our guests and our systems very seriously and while this is an isolated incident, applicable to only one room, we have consequently launched a full investigation with our television supplier.
“We will take the appropriate action to address any issues that are identified by our investigation and in the interim, we have reaffirmed our guidance to team-members regarding checks on the status of televisions in our guest-rooms."
- Rape Crisis services for women and girls who have been raped or have experienced sexual violence - 0808 802 9999
- Survivors UK offers support for men and boys - 0845 122 1201