A British man has been arrested in Kyrgysztan after comparing a national delicacy to 'horse penis.'

Michael Mcfeat faces up to five years in prison for denigrating chuchuk, a traditional horsemeat sausage, under racial hatred laws.

In a Facebook post, Mcfeat suggested his Kyrgyz colleagues were queuing up for a “special delicacy, the horse’s penis.”

He later deleted the post, and issued an apology.

“I would like to take the opportunity to sincerely appologise [sic] for the comment I made on here about the kygyz people and horses penis,” he wrote. “I truly never meant to offened anyone and im truly sorry as it was never my intension [sic].”

An employee of Canadian mining firm Centerra Gold, Mcfeat's arrest led to a brief strike by other workers.

According to the Guardian, a local union leader confirmed that the mine, which provides 10% of the country's economic output.

The incident comes amid a dispute between the country's government and Centerra Gold, with the state pressing the company to swap its 32.7% stake in the Centerra mine for a 50% share in another gold mine owned wholly by Centerra.