944 British drugs arrests abroad

The 944 arrests accounted for a seventh of all arrests of British nationals abroad in the period April 2009 to March 2010, the FO said.

Drugs contributed to more than a third of total arrests of Britons in France and more than a quarter in Ireland, Italy and Thailand.

There were 132 rape cases involving Britons in 2009/10, with the most (32) being in Greece.

There were 140 cases of sexual assault, with the most (27) in Turkey.

The FO figures also revealed that there were a high number of road traffic accidents involving Britons overseas last year.

Including natural causes, accidents and unlawful killings, there were 5,930 reported deaths of UK citizens abroad in 2009-10.

Of these, 1,786 occurred in Spain, which also saw the highest number of arrests and detentions of UK nationals as well as the highest number of cases where Britons needed hospital treatment.

The Foreign Office said its consular staff reported they had frequently assisted elderly Britons who were being landed with extremely high treatment and repatriation bills as a result of not declaring pre-existing health conditions when they purchased travel insurance.