A FRENCH COURT has ordered a man to pay damages of €10,000 to his ex-wife for failing to have enough sex with her when they were married.

The 51-year-old man, known only as John Louis B, has reportedly been fined under article 215 of France’s civil code which states that married couples must agree to a “shared communal life” with a judge taking this to mean that sexual relations must form part of a marriage, the Telegraph reports.

The woman filed for divorce two years ago, blaming the lack of bedroom action for the break-up. The man was deemed by the court to be solely responsible for the split but then the woman sought damages of €10,000 for the “lack of sex over 21 years of marriage.”

John Louis B claimed “tiredness and health problems” but the judge disagreed and awarded damages to the woman, known only as Monique. The couple raised two children on the south coast of France, the IBT reports.

The paper also quotes one sexologist as saying “the French have a reputation for being lovers. Quite frankly you can cut off a French man’s penis, he’d still find a way to have sex.”

However, the  Daily Mail reports that such cases, although rare, are not unheard of in France with the last known similar case dating back to 2000. And it appears the country is losing it’s libido despite being home to the city of love and having put the French in ‘French Kiss’.

A survey by the country’s Institute of Public Opinion found that 76 per cent of adults surveyed “suffer relationship problems that are due to a poor sex life,” with half of those saying they had “no desire” to make love, the paper reports.