Local police have increased plain clothes patrols in Faliraki

Last week a tourist from Swansea was killed when he was run over by a refuse lorry.

Matthew Benney, 29, is thought to have gone under the truck as part of a bet with friends, witnesses told police in Rhodes.

Added to this, the number of reported rapes on the island has risen dramatically in recent years - from 17 in 1998 to 34 in 2002.

British woman jailed

Faliraki, which is popular with 18 to 30-year-olds, has seen Rhodes dubbed the "island of sin" and was the setting for the ITV1 documentary Club Reps: The Workers.

But the drink-fuelled activities of mainly British tourists has led to horrific tales of violent crime and seen a number of people end up in the Greek courts.

In June this year, two Britons were charged with the attempted rape of a 24-year-old woman from Derby.

The same month a British girl appeared in court after she attacked a nightclub manager who refused her entry.

The teenager was in a fight in bar-strewn Faliraki

Victoria O'Connor, 20, from London, was drunk as she picked up a rock and threw it in the face of 28-year-old Vissilis Hatsidiakios.

She denied assault but was found guilty and jailed for 10 months.

In order to try and stem the rising tide of violence, local police have increased the number of plain-clothes patrols.

Their concern was raised last year when a number of Britons were arrested for lewd behaviour - the result of celebrations following England's 3-0 victory over Denmark in the World Cup.

The latest tourist death on the island came a month after the Foreign Office (FO) released a warning to holidaymakers to take extra care in light of the rise in violent and sexual assaults.

The FO also reviewed its travel advice for Greece last summer, advising women never to accept lifts from people they didn't know very well.