Extendable photo sticks banned over damage.

The use of so-called "selfie sticks" has been banned in the Colosseum over concerns that the photographic device could cause damage to the ancient monument.

The Colosseum has become the latest museum to ban the sticks which are already prohibited at the Uffizi in Florence, the National Gallery in London, the Palace of Versailles in Paris, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Colosseum director Rossella Rea described selfie sticks as "extremely dangerous" inside the amphitheatre, saying that when fully extended with outstretched arms, the devices take up over half the width of the monument's interior coridoors.

The ban follows the recent arrest of two Californian women for using coins to carve their initials into a Colosseum wall.