IT’S hard to keep a secret in this digital age, as many a celebrity has discovered. So when a disgruntled former masseuse at the Old Course Hotel at St Andrews, the home of golf, accused a Hollywood star of obscene conduct during her services, his identity was bound to come out.

The 34-year-old spa worker is suing the hotel for unfair dismissal and sexual discrimination and yesterday the tribunal agreed that the actor could be named — because his identity has already appeared in newspapers from Nebraska to Nepal and on the internet.

Kevin Costner, 51, whose films include Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Dances with Wolves, was named by an employment tribunal as the Hollywood star accused of dropping his towel and exposing himself during a massage on his honeymoon in Scotland last year. Mr Costner has vehemently denied the allegation.

He is alleged to have removed his towel and asked the masseuse to “touch him everywhere”. He was honeymooning with his second wife, Christine Baumgartner, 32, a handbag designer, at the time of the alleged incident.

The couple were also taking part in the annual Dunhill Links pro-celebrity golf event along with other stars including Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Bill Murray and Kurt Russell.

Mr Costner’s identity was revealed after newspaper lawyers argued for the lifting of an order banning him from being named. They argued that details of the allegation had already been published on the internet and in newspapers in the United States, Australia and even Nepal.

Nicol Hosie, the tribunal chairman, ruled that there was no reason to prevent Mr Costner from being named. After deliberating for an hour, he said: “It is very significant that his name is widely reported in the world’s press. It is already a matter which is in the public domain.”

The woman told the tribunal last month: “I asked him how he liked his massage and he said he liked it ‘sweet’. I thought it was a strange term to describe a massage. He asked me if I was comfortable touching him everwhere and I said, ‘No’.

She added: “Throughout the massage he kept putting his hand underneath his towel but never kept it there long enough for me to suspect anything.” However, as she went to massage his head, he whipped off his towel and “performed a sex act to climax”.

The hotel worker, who claimed to have lost her job after complaining about the incident to her superiors, reached an out-of-court settlement with the hotel yesterday. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

She told the hearing in Dundee that she had been disgusted by the incident. “Even though he was a Hollywood film star, I can’t believe he thought he could get away with it. He abused me and I considered that a criminal act.” She said that her next client was Mr Costner’s wife. She told the hearing: “I wanted to tell her everything.”

Mr Costner’s agent could not be contacted last night. However, Paul Bloch, the star’s publicist in the US, told the New York Daily News: “We find it unfortunate that Mr Costner’s name has been brought into what is essentially a dispute between a company owned by a good friend of his and a former employee — and that it would tarnish what was a wonderful time spent at this resort with his wife.”

A friend of Mr Costner is reported to have said that the actor had been “set up”.