Police issue warning over naked sunbathing in back gardens during heatwave

With temperatures set to rise as the UK experiences a heatwave this week, sweltering summer is upon us.

Records were shattered on Monday with temperatures reaching never before seen levels which will continue today with the heat set to go beyond 40c in some parts of the country.

In this kind of weather, most will want to enjoy the sunshine and top up their tan by sunbathing. In fact, this blistering heat perhaps means some will want to strip off completely in their back garden when soaking in the rays - but there are some rules everyone has to follow concerning this.

The police have issued a warning on the rules when it comes to getting naked in your garden.

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

For those living in England and Wales, while being naked in public is not an offence in itself you must ensure according to Section 66 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 that you are not causing "distress or alarm" to others.

“In the case of naturism a balance needs to be struck between the naturist's right to freedom of expression and the right of the wider public to be protected from harassment, alarm and distress," the Crown Prosecution Service said, The Mirrorreported.

For those wanting to sunbathe in their garden in the buff, police have shared guidance to avoid awkward arguments with neighboursiStockphoto by Getty Images

Meanwhile, this became an issue between two rowing neighbours in Reigate and led to a post by Surrey Police advising people on their neighbourly matter.

In the post, they said: "If you want to wander around your garden naked and you are overlooked by neighbours then you have to be careful - an Englishman's home is not quite his castle and your garden is not exempt from the law.

“In an ideal world, your relationship with your neighbours would be such that they would not object to you gardening in the buff and they would never dream of calling the police.

“In the real world, however, you would be well advised to take some simple precautions."

To avoid conflicts like this, the police also advised those wanting to be naked in their gardens to have a section of the area that is screened from view so those in the buff have their privacy and neighbours don't get an eyeful.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.