NAKED Rambler Stephen Gough has been handed an anti-social behaviour order (Asbo) that bans him from baring all in public.

The order forbids the 54-year-old naturist activist from exposing his buttocks and genitals in public except for nudist beaches, changing rooms and for medical examinations.

Southampton Magistrates’ Court heard how Gough opposed the Asbo, arguing that it was like being locked up indefinitely.

Breaching an Asbo can result in a maximum jail term of five years.

The former Royal Marine of Chamberlayne Road, Eastleigh, has received 28 convictions for being nude in public.

He first gained notoriety between 2003 and 2006 when he twice walked naked from John O'Groats to Land's End.

Now following a stream of complaints, Hampshire police and Eastleigh Borough Council jointly applied for the order.

In February Gough breached an interim Asbo within minutes of it being imposed when he left court in the buff.

This time district judge Anthony Calloway refused to allow Gough to appear naked in the dock and a hearing went ahead without him.

PC Rich Moody, anti-social behaviour co-ordinator for the Eastleigh area, said the order was aimed at protecting Gough rather than punishing him.

He said: “It gives him a choice. This way he has the choice not to break the law.

“The order is necessary to prevent the public being subject to Mr Gough’s behaviour and it’s also necessary to protect himself from his behaviour.

“It gives us the means to deal with expectations of the public in general.

“My aim is not to lock him up. I hope it will act as a deterrent.”

Annabelle Timan, defending, said Gough believed the Asbo was a punishment and described it as disproportionate.

She added: “The purpose of his appearances and in appearing in the nude in public is his fundamental belief that the human body is not offensive and that includes the genitals.”

“The reality of the situation is that it would be akin to indefinite detention.”

However, imposing the Asbo for five years, Judge Calloway said: “Complaints came from persons in various walks of life including a school administrative officer, a mother going to pick up her child outside school, a student nurse and members of the public going about their ordinary daily lives and some out with their children.

“The reaction of some persons was of feeling really traumatised. Others merely felt uncomfortable.

“It is not because they had a personal dislike of Mr Gough, a man who they had never met before, but the fact the police were called in a number of incidents seems to me to underwrite their views and attitudes.”