A five-star hotel in Crete is counter-claiming £170,000 from a couple who submitted a £10,000 claim for food poisoning, a claim the hotel says is false.

Mr and Mrs Bodarenko stayed at the Caldera Palace Hotel for a week in 2013 but did not make their claim until this year, one they are now trying to drop after the hotel management alleged they had Facebook posts proving that the couple had enjoyed their holiday and proof that they had consumed “large quantities of alcohol” when they were supposed to be ill. One Facebook post from Mrs Bondarenko described the hotel as “gorgeous” and that they had been there three times.

The hotel’s counterclaim is for damage to its reputation.