London, Nov 13 (IANS) A British woman has been told that she faces up to 12 years in an Italian jail for falsely claiming that she was raped in a toilet on a college trip to Florence.

Fashion student Serena Bowes, 21, who has waived her right to anonymity, was on an undergraduate visit to the city when she says she was raped in a nightclub toilet, Daily Mail reported Thursday.

Weeks after returning home to Britain’s Newcastle city, she received a letter to say she faced charges for falsifying the rape – which she strongly denies.

Her family had time until Thursday to find legal representation to present her case in Italy, and if they fail they say the trial could go ahead in her absence.