A Swedish man has been accused of performing a sex act in front of a woman during a monthly mixed steam room session - months after activists complained about the sauna's strict gender segregation.

The 35-year-old's alleged actions at Malmo's Kallbadhuset sauna on Ribersborg beach are said to have left the woman terrified .

He was seized by staff and held on site until the police arrived and is now suspected of sexual harassment.

The incident unfolded during the sauna's monthly Queer Kallis event which is aimed at 'LGBTQ people in particular'.

The wooden dock off Ribersborg beach where the Kallbadhuset is located, just a short walk from central Malmo

It started last May after activists - championed by two Malmo politicians from the Left Party and Feminist Initiative - argued against the gender categorisation.

The campaigners said that it was prejudicial to trans and non-binary people who were made to feel ostracised by the male and female rooms.

A post on the sauna website explains: 'Non-binary and trans-people who previously were unable to visit Kallis on account of its strict gender segregation into a men's and women's section can now have access to everything.'

Speaking after the incident, sauna owner Jonas Rincon-Dahlberg told Sydsvenskan 'This is not acceptable in any way.

'Staff dealt with him immediately and managed to get hold of the women who had been sitting in the sauna and had been frightened, disturbed, and stormed out.'

Mr Rincon-Dahlberg said the man's behaviour had been highly unusual and pledged to forge on with the gender neutral sauna day.