A HAMPSHIRE man has been ordered not to display his "genitals or buttocks" in public - or risk going to prison.

Steve Gough, 43, of Chamberlayne Road, Eastleigh, was arrested yesterday morning after turning up naked at the city's magistrates court.

He was due to appear before the magistrates following his alleged naked stroll through Eastleigh town centre in August.

Gough will now appear before Southampton magistrates on January 17, charged with two counts of behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress contrary to The Public Order Act 1986.

Lay magistrates granted Gough bail in his absence yesterday afternoon after he refused to appear before them wearing clothes.

Debbie Tripley, appearing on behalf of Gough at the city's magistrates court, said that her client had instructed her to enter not guilty pleas to both counts against him. She said his defence would be referring to Articles 9 and 10 of the Human Rights Act, which enshrines the right to freedom of expression.

Setting his bail conditions, Lay Magistrate Hartley said: "Having taken due regard of the Human Rights Act we grant bail to Mr Gough on the one condition that he covers his genitals and buttocks all times when in a public place."

She said the court had a duty to protect the interests and sensibilities of members of the general public.

Mr Gough, an unemployed father-of-two, was arrested in Eastleigh on August 7 this year when he allegedly took a brisk lunchtime walk along several streets and past the town's police station wearing only sunglasses and carrying a rucksack on his back.

Details of yesterday's dramatic arrest were carried in later editions of the Daily Echo yesterday.