Three British men have been acquitted of rape in a Spanish court after they were accused of attacking a woman in a group apartment in Benidorm.

A hearing at the Provincial Court of Alicante was set to hear the case on December 5, but the alleged victim did not show up, according to local media.

The alleged victim had previously told police she had sex with one of the men on October 30, 2011, after going back to his apartment.

The incident is said to have taken place in 2011 when the defendants met the woman in a bar in the resort, on eastern Spain's Costa Blanca, and later went back to a flat

However, she said she fell asleep and when two others returned they held her down by the arms and raped her.

The men denied the attack and said the woman was enraged because they told her to leave so they could go to bed, and threw her shoes out of the room.

Prosecutors wanted each of her three alleged attackers to be jailed for 30 years - including 14 years for sexual assault and eight for injuries.

One of the alleged attackers admitted in court that he had consensual 'sexual activity' with the woman, but claimed there was no penetration.

While the other two men claimed they did not touch the woman but asked their roommate to wake her up as they had nowhere to sleep.

They also added that the woman had become angry when they threw her shoes on the balcony - and then threatened to report them to the police and file a false report of rape.

The alleged victims absence meant the court could not clarify contradictions in the statements she had reportedly given police officers.