Mediaworks has been fined for misrepresenting a tradie in The Block: Villa Wars

Brooke and Mitch were the winners of The Block: Villa Wars. Photo / Supplied

Mediaworks has to pay out $1500 after the Broadcasting Standards Authority found The Block: Villa Wars treated one of their tradies unfairly.

In the show, which aired last year, Ljubisa 'Bob' Djurdjevic was described as a "temperamental European tiler" who went "AWOL" when he was not paid in advance as he wanted.

He complained that his work ethic was misrepresented and he had in fact made it clear he did not want to be shown on the show.

The BSA ruled The Block "created an unfairly negative impression" of Djurdjevic with its "inaccurate and misleading" portrayal of him, particularly as his part on the show came under the theme "tradie troubles".

The winning house from The Block: Villa Wars. Photo / Supplied

The BSA said Djurdjevic was "not given a reasonable opportunity to comment on how he
was portrayed in the broadcast because he did not know he was going to feature
in the broadcast or the angle that would be taken.

"This programme had the potential to be damaging to Mr Djurdjevic's professional
reputation and business interests and the broadcaster ought to have recognised
this."

It added that The Block should have either kept Djurdjevic's identity secret or at least given him the opportunity to defend himself.

A Mediaworks spokesperson acknowledged that "Djurdjevic and his business conduct was portrayed in an unfavourable and unfair way".

They say: "A number of these issues resulted from failures by the producer of the series, Warner Brothers TV, to follow proper process in this instance. This is a disappointing lapse and they have worked to rectify these issues since.

"As the broadcaster, the responsibility ultimately lies with us. We accept the BSA's decision and would like to apologise once again to Mr Djurdjevic for any distress this has caused him."