Greek TV fined over male kissing

There were a handful of complaints about a gay kiss in UK's Coronation Street

A Greek television station has been fined 100,000 euros (£69,390) for showing two men kissing.

Mega television was handed the fine over a broadcast of its weekly drama Close Your Eyes.

The National Radio and Television Council which imposed the fine called the scene "vulgar and unacceptable".

But TV critic Popi Diamandakou called the decision "hypocritical" after shots of Britney Spears kissing Madonna at the MTV Awards were repeatedly shown.

"The council tells us ... that it's OK to be tolerant but we shouldn't go too far," wrote Ms Diamandakou in the daily Ta Nea newspaper.

Big bother

The National Radio and Television Council ran into controversy in 2002 when it stepped in to a row about the Greek version of Big Brother.

Its president, Vasillis Lambridis, originally pulled the reality TV show off the air claiming it had overstepped the boundaries of public decency.

But he was over-ruled by other members of the television watchdog, and the show was allowed to continue, albeit moved from a 2200 timeslot to past midnight.

In the UK, 21 complaints were received when Coronation Street recently screened its first gay kiss, but these were rejected by the Independent Television Commission.