Donkeys have traditionally been used to carry tourists around many parts of Greece.

Overweight tourists are crippling donkeys on the Greek island of Santorini, animal charities have warned.

Donkeys have traditionally been used to carry tourists around the famously hilly island with its hundreds of cobbled steps.

But campaigners say donkeys are struggling under increasingly heavy loads, suffering from spinal injuries and saddle sores, Caters reported.

Locals have been forced to cross breed the donkeys with stronger mules to cope, a spokesman for charity Help the Santorini Donkeys told Caters.

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"Obese and overweight tourists combined with the lack of shade and water, heat and cobbled steps is what's causing such a problem."

He said there needs to be a weight restriction but questioned how that would be imposed.

123RF Donkeys are suffering badly because of increasingly heavy loads, animal welfare groups say.

More than 1000 cruise ship passengers visit Santorini each day in the high season between May and October, the report stated.

However, Christina Kaloudi, founder of the Santorini Animal Welfare Association, said the donkeys are overworked year round.

"If they are not transporting tourists up the steps, they are moving building materials or transporting heavy bags of rubbish," she told Caters. "There are some good owners out there that follow the code but generally donkeys are worked into the ground and then disposed of when their working lives are over."

PAMELA WADE When they're not carrying tourists, donkeys are transporting heavy equipment or rubbish bags, charities say.

Santorini officials signed an international code of practice for working equines in 2008, but there is no organisation to enforce the policy, according to the association.

Help the Santorini Donkeys has called on the Greek government to regulate the use of donkeys on the island, although it is not seeking a full ban as it says this would destroy many locals' livelihood.

UK-based charity The Donkey Sanctuary is also advocating for change.

A spokesperson for the charity told the Evening Standard that it had expressed its concerns to the Mayor of Santorini and requested a meeting "to discuss the ongoing animal welfare concerns affecting many of the donkeys and mules working on the island".

PAMELA WADE More than 1000 cruise ship passengers a day flood the island during high season.