When a 40-year old British woman set off a metal detector's alarm at Athens airport, bemused security staff found that it was caused by a chastity belt she was wearing, officials said on Friday, confirming a press report.

"It happened a few days before Christmas. The metal detector went off and after a further check we found out she was wearing a chastity belt," airport police official Dimitris Tzouvaras told AFP, confirming a report in the daily newspaper To Vima.

"The woman was allowed to fly on to London on the pilot's responsibility," Tzouvaras added.

According to the press report, the woman told police officers her husband had forced her to put on the belt to make sure she had no extra-marital affair during a brief visit to Greece.

Tzouvaras did not comment on that report.