Rhodes: Albanian man, 23, has denied raping the British tourist after they spoke online

The woman, 20, said the man raped her on Saturday and tried to do so again

An Albanian man accused of raping a British tourist in the sea and attempting to do so again at her hotel in Rhodes has been freed from custody but barred from leaving Greece.

The British woman, 20, told police the 23-year-old man raped her on Saturday after they went for a swim at Glystra beach on the east coast of the island.

The young woman said the man then took her back to her hotel room in Kiotari where he attacked her and tried to rape her a second time, reports the Vradini newspaper.

The tourist, who has not been named, testified that she had met the man two weeks ago and that they exchanged messages on WhatsApp before meeting up in person last week.

The Albanian national insisted to investigators that the pair had consensual sex before they ate together and then went to her room to have sex again, the Dimokratiki newspaper reports.

A British woman, 20, told police the 23-year-old man raped her on Saturday after they went for a swim at a beach on the east coast of Rhodes (file image)

The British tourist told police that she had met the suspect at her hotel room in the afternoon of June 3 before they agreed to ride on his brother’s motorbike to Glystra beach where they went swimming.

She said that the man then attacked her while they were in the sea and raped her.

The victim walked onto the beach and put on her clothes before begging the suspect to drive her back to her hotel room.

But when they arrived at the hotel at 4pm local time, the 23-year-old man followed her back to her room where he took off her clothes and tried to sexually assault her again.

This time, the woman was able to push him away from her and forced him to leave the room. The victim then left the hotel and reported the rape and assault to Rhodes police.

Detectives launched a manhunt for the Albanian man. He was found hours later and taken to the police station. A case has been filed against him for rape, for which he could face up to ten years in prison.

He has now been released from custody on the condition that he does not leave the country. The investigation continues.