Seventeen British men appeared in a Greek court today dressed as nuns after being arrested for indecent exposure and offending religious symbols.

The men, aged between 18 and 65, were accused of flashing their bottoms "and the rest" while wearing rudimentary nun costumes in the town of Malia on the island of Crete, a resort notorious for rowdy and drunken behaviour during the summer.

The men were led into the court in Heraklion handcuffed in pairs and sporting the same black dresses, homemade habits, garter belts and thongs that had caught the attention of Cretan police in the early hours of Sunday.

The group, believed to be a stag party, had spent more than 24 hours in police cells and were unable to change into more sober attire before facing the court.

They were charged with "scandal and misrepresentation of a costume or uniform" but were released when no one showed up to testify their behaviour was offensive, according to the Foreign Office. "The charges were dropped this morning, and the group are not yet back in the UK. We provided consular assistance," a spokeswoman said.

A police official told Reuters that the group had been flashing other holidaymakers when they were arrested. "They were dressed like nuns, carrying crosses, but wearing thongs under their skirts and showing people their bottoms and the rest," said the official.

Britons account for about 15% of the 15 million tourists who visit Greece every year and some have gained notoriety for drunken and occasionally violent behaviour. In 2007, Malia residents staged a march against British tourists.