A British man on holiday in Crete suffered second-degree burns after a Greek woman became infuriated by his “indecent” behaviour in a bar and set fire to his private parts, Greek and British media reported on Thursday.

The Star channel said the incident occurred in the early hours of Wednesday in the resort town of Malia.

The Sun, reported that the man, Stuart Feltham allegedly exposed himself to a Greek girl in a bar in Malia in Crete.

Mr Feltham allegedly exposed his penis and testicles and proceeded to wave them around in the bar in front of a group of women.

The 20-year-old British tourist reportedly then made crude advances towards a 26-year-old student while drunk and tried to force her to touch his penis and testicles.

The woman, from the local capital Iraklion, who twice attempted to push him away finally poured a bottle of Sambuca over his private parts, and set them on fire with a cigarette lighter.

The woman turned herself in at the local police station a few hours later and confessed to the attack.

She claimed Mr Feltham groped her and pestered her for sex.

Police said Mr Feltham, was rushed to hospital with second-degree burns to his genitals.

Student Marina Fanouraki, 26, is due in court charged with grievous bodily harm.

Many have rung talkback radio programmes in Greece and supported the woman for standing up to all too common lewd behaviour by drunken British tourists on Greek islands.

For Cretans especially, who are well known for their fiery and independent nature, she was proclaimed a ‘hero.’

The British government has made regular attempts to convince tour operators to stop their bar hopping-tours as a way of limiting disorderly drunk behaviour by British tourists.

Last month, the British Government urged Greece to ban organised “bar-hopping” tours and clamp down on doctored drinks to help stop young British tourists from getting into alcohol-related trouble after a series of incidents.