A man known as the Naked Rambler was arrested yesterday – in the lesbian capital of Britain.
Stephen Gough, 53, was nicked as he strolled naked through Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, after a complaint from a member of the public.
His arrest comes three weeks after he was released from Saughton Prison in Edinburgh, where he had served a six-month sentence for repeatedly breaching the peace.
Gough, a former marine from Eastleigh in Hampshire, vowed to continue walking naked in his “fight for freedom”.
He crossed over into England and had completed around 220 miles before his arrest on suspicion of breaching the peace at around midday yesterday.
Hebden Bridge earned the title of the ‘lesbian capital of Britain’ for having the highest number of homosexual women per head in the UK.
Speaking as he set off from prison on October 5, Gough said: “I have no route or location in mind but my plans are to head south basically.
“I have no idea if I’ll be arrested again. I’ll just have to wait and see what happens. I’ll be fine in the woods but when I get to a town there could be trouble.
“When I’m not walking and it’s cold I do wear my clothes to keep warm.
“But I’m going to sort out my clothes from the carrier bags and put them in my rucksack and get on my way naked. Hopefully the weather will stay warm.”
Gough has spent most of the last six years in prison after being repeatedly jailed for breach of the peace.
He was last jailed for five months after being seen unclothed near a children’s play park in Dunfermline, Fife, on July 20.
But after being released he insisted that it was his right to walk naked and said the threat of prison would not deter him from being naked in public places.
He said: “I’ve been in prison so many times during my life – over 20 times I think for various things.
“They treated me just the same as always this time round, like any other prison. I was in solitary confinement again.
“But I do this because I want to. I don’t know why the police and authorities have such a problem with it. I’m not hurting anybody.
“I want my freedom. But that’s the way it works for people who fight for their freedom, they get locked up for it. But I will continue to fight for freedom.
“There are a lot of totalitarian countries out there that people criticise but in some ways we aren’t much different.”
A spokesman for West Yorkshire police said: “A man was arrested walking naked in Hebden Bridge on suspicion of causing a breach of the peace shortly after midday.
“He is being held at Hedben Bridge Police Station.”
