Naked ramblers today slammed heavy-handed police tactics in marshalling a fundraising charity walk.
The group of walkers set off on a 20-mile hike along the south coast path from Swanage to Lulworth Cove, Dorset, to raise money for the Marine Conservation Society.
But police decided the group of up to 20 people posed a public risk and reportedly deployed 10 officers, patrol cars and a helicopter to marshal the naturists under a carefully-planned operation codenamed Thistle.
Naked walker Bernard Boase, 63, was asked to cover up by a police officer half-way through the walk on June 2.
He was arrested and charged with harassment when he refused but the case was later dropped because of a lack of evidence.
The retired IT consultant from Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, plans to complain to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
A fellow naked rambler has already lodged a complaint with the IPCC.
A third walker has also written to Inspector Ashley Adams, of Dorset Police, but received an "unapologetic" letter back, Mr Boase said.
He added: "It was completely unnecessary and such a waste of resources. I'd be interested to know exactly what it did cost.
"In a word, the police harassed us far more than we could have harassed anybody else by our presence."
He said passers-by happily greeted the ramblers, who were wearing just rucksacks and hiking boots, but halfway through the walk officers began "soliciting" complaints.
"The second shift of officers got very heavy-handed, going up to passers-by suggesting that they might like to make complaints," Mr Boase said.
"This kind of solicitation is unacceptable."
A Dorset Police spokesman said: "The Jurassic Coastal path is a busy tourist area with the path being used by more than 200 people on a summer Saturday, including significant numbers of children and older people.
"We received a total of 18 complaints from the public about nudity during the walk."
Metro.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment