Martyn Curtis, of Emmer Green, has struck out at the company behind Just Berkshire Dating after adverts for singles living hundreds of miles away were popping up when he logged on to the site.

The 59-year-old semi-retired gardener complained of the high number of users coming up from the far corners of the UK. He was also shocked to find an apparently active profile of a former client of his who died last July.

Mr Curtis said: “I have had Scotland, way down in Dorset and Cornwall, it’s just ridiculous. It is very rare that you get anything that is suitable within your distance parameters. They still had a profile for someone who died last July and I saw it still up there this weekend — I was outraged.

“There was hardly anyone coming in from Berkshire, at least 80 per cent were coming in from outside the county.” Mr Curtis also took issue with the lack of information on whether someone was still an active user or not.

He said: “You are messaging blind all the time. You have no idea if they are still using the site, married or even deceased. Once you are not paying any more they should take your profile down.”

A spokesman for Global Personals, who run hundreds of dating websites including Just Berkshire, said they were unable to comment on individual cases without looking into their account details.

However the spokesman said: “Our local dating match members with other people looking for love in their area. The sites plug in to a wider group of dating sites which increases the pool of potential matches for members.

“If the member searches for people with very specific criteria which can’t be met in the local area, they’ll see profiles of other members further afield from the wider network.

“Deceased members will be removed from our sites as soon as we are notified that they are deceased.”