A British tourist and his French companion have been arrested in Peru after posing naked for photos at the ancient site of Machu Picchu.

The police stopped 23-year-old Adam Burton and French national Eric Xavier Mariec, 28, while they were still naked at the ancient site, which re-opened this week after maintenance work.

They were arrested on the spot and police later released the images from a mobile phone, showing the two men posing in body-builder stances with no clothes on.

The police stopped 23-year-old Adam Burton and French national Eric Xavier Mariec, 28, while they were still naked at the ancient site, which re-opened this week after maintenance work

They were arrested on the spot and police later released the images from a mobile phone, showing the two men posing in body-builder stances with no clothes on

The men were prosecuted for offences against morality, according to state news agency Andina, and the photos were released to warn other tourists against lewd behaviour at the ancient site.

The photos showed the Incan citadel in the background, which is a proud part of Peruvian heritage and one of the Seven Wonders Of The World.

Millions of tourists from all over the world visit the site every year, which is set in the Andes mountains.

It had been closed throughout February but the Inca trail route was open again on Tuesday, according to the Department of Culture of Cuzco.

The incident is almost exactly two years after police in Peru announced a crackdown on tourists taking naked photos at the site after a number of online photos and videos emerged.

Foreigners stripping off and streaking across the Incan ruins, prompting a response from the Ministry of Culture.

In 2013, two Antipodeans - an 18-year-old Australian and 30-year-old New Zealander - were detained by guards for baring their backsides at the citadel.

They were briefly held in custody and forced to delete naked photographs from their digital camera - but not before it had gone viral on Peruvian social media after it was 'irresponsibly published to the Internet,' a police statement said.

'They were made aware that it is totally forbidden to take photographs of this magnitude,' the report, obtained by local travel agency Fertur Peru Travel, added.

In February 2014, a video was posted to YouTube showing a naked couple streaking across Machu Picchu, considered to be a sacred holy site, as a park guard gave chase.

The couple could be seen running through the grass, holding their clothes in their hands, jumping over the ancient stone walls, and the incident was filmed by another tourist.

The incident is also reminiscent of Eleanor Hawkins, a 24-year-old student who jailed last year for stripping off on a sacred mountain in Malaysia.

Miss Hawkins, along with Canadian siblings Lindsey and Danielle Petersen and Dutch national Dylan Snel, pleaded guilty to a public nuisance offence after going topless while on Mt Kinabalu.

A recent graduate with a masters degree from Southampton University, Miss Hawkins was in the middle of a gap year travelling around south-east Asia.

A spokesman for Fertur Peru Travel, which organises tours to Machu Picchu, said: 'Stripping naked at Machu Picchu probably isn't a great idea, unless you want to be removed from the citadel and possibly face criminal charges. Prudish perhaps, but those are the rules.'

An FCO spokesman said: 'We are in contact with local authorities in Peru following an incident involving a British national in Machu Pichu.'

However, it is not believed that the FCO have been asked for any assistance in this case.