A healthcare recruiter has withdrawn a website advertisement that a legal expert warned could be unlawful.

Eurosite Medical, based in Essex, had posted an advert on classified website Gumtree.com claiming "new laws" allowed the company to help agency workers secure better pay in positions that had been arranged by other recruitment companies.

The posting claimed that candidates had "Nothing to lose and lots of money to gain".

Recruiter asked Eurosite Medical to justify these claims. The firm could not, and withdrew the posting within 24 hours.

Adrian Kingwell, a spokesman for the company, said the advert was posted by a "rogue employee".

"It's not the sort of advert that we would normally place," said Kingwell. "So we decided to pull it."

Adrian Marlowe, managing director of recruitment law specialists Lawspeed, said the job posting raised "issues of concern".

"The advertisement was making promises that potentially couldn't be fulfilled," he said. "The company may not have been able to find more money for the candidates."

Marlowe also said the advert could have infringed civil laws by encouraging candidates to divulge confidential information.

"Agency workers should be very careful about revealing details of their employment contracts," he added.

REC deputy chief executive Marcia Roberts said recruiters need to be "slightly circumspect and not take too bullish a stance in adverts".

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