We present the discovery of a very peculiar L dwarf from the UKIDSS Large Area Survey (LAS), ULAS J222711-004547. Its very red infrared colours (MKO J-K = 2.79) make it the reddest brown dwarf discovered so far. The object was discovered as part of a large spectroscopic campaign aimed at constraining the sub-stellar birth rate. We obtained a moderate resolution spectrum of this target using the echelle spectrograph XSHOOTER on VLT/UT2, and classified it as L7pec, confirming its very red nature. We show that applying a simple de-reddening curve to the spectrum of ULAS J222711-004547, this becomes very similar to the spectrum of a L7 spectroscopic standard. Therefore we conclude that the reddening of the spectrum is mostly due to an excess of dust in the photosphere of the object. This new discovery joins the list of unusually red L dwarfs, whose nature is not yet fully understood, and poses a new important challenge to atmospheric modeling of substellar objects.