Tourists evacuated as forest fires sweep through Rhodes

Around 60 British guests at two smaller hotels nearby also had to be driven to safety.

A spokesman for tour operator Tui said: 'There are forest fires 3km from the resort of Kiotari.

'As a precautionary measure due to smoke, we evacuated 324 First Choice customers to Glistra Beach until the smoke disperses.

'Experts believe that should be a couple of hours but if that changes we would have to review the situation.

'It is being monitored closely by our resort management team, working in co-operation with the local authorities.

'We have a lot of resort staff with the customers at the moment. The hotel itself has not been directly affected by the fire.'

Another 12 customers whose apartments were further from the fires were given the option of moving to the beach area, she added.

Fires have been raging in dense pine forest on Rhodes since Tuesday. Strong winds are making conditions increasingly hazardous.

France, Italy and Cyprus are sending firefighting aircraft to help tackle the fire, which has burned thousands of acres of forest in the popular destination.