DUBAI: International accommodation sharing service Airbnb has apologized to two British travelers after a dawn raid on their rented apartment in Istanbul saw them face police interrogation.

The police officers reportedly entered the apartment – and left the tourists stranded afterwards – in a dispute over whether the US-based company had the right to let out the property.

Speaking to The Times on Tuesday, guest Tom Duggan, 36, from London, said: “We were pretty shaken by the whole experience… We woke to very loud banging on the door. Seven policemen briefly showed us their IDs and then took away our passports. They questioned us for over an hour about the purpose of our visit and to provide evidence that we were allowed to be in the apartment. We were really worried.

“They tried to contact the apartment owner but he wouldn’t answer their calls even though he’d been regularly in touch with us by text over the weekend. Eventually they explained that the owner was renting the apartment illegally and either that he wasn’t paying tax or hadn’t registered it. They made us sign a page-long document in Turkish, which they told us said how many days we’d booked it for and how much we paid, but we didn’t know for sure. Only then would they release our passports.

“The officers then gave us ten minutes to pack and leave before they sealed the apartment.”

When the pair returned to the UK, they were reportedly refused a full refund by Airbnb, however, The Times reported that the company eventually offered a full refund and apology.

A spokesman said: “We have apologized to the guests and are giving them our support. We have also suspended the host while we investigate further.”