Many people enjoyed the sun at the weekend, but one man thought it was bare-faced cheek for five men to be enjoying the sun the way nature intended.

Jack Brady, 26, a recruitment consultant from New Malden, was out cycling by Hamlands, Ham on Sunday when he came across a man sunbathing in nothing but a pair of boots.

"I thought Crikey - let's get away from here,' but when I cycled towards the river I spotted four more naked men," he said.

Mr Brady cycled to Richmond Police station to ask them to get to the bottom of it.

"The men were only metres away from where children and families were sitting by the river. As I cycled off I told them to put their clothes on," he said.

But Andrew Welch of British Naturism said there is no harm in baring all.

"I don't know if those men were naturists, but what I can say is that true naturists do not like to offend people. We know we can do our shopping in the nude, but we don't. For us, naturism is about sunshine and good weather, not just being naked for the sake of it," he said.

A spokeswoman for Richmond Police said there was no specific law banning public nudity but people can be prosecuted under public decency laws for causing offence. She said: "At 3.25pm we were informed of a large group of naked men by the river footpath in Ham. A police community support officer approached the site on foot but when he arrived at about 4pm the men were gone."

q Were you one of the Ham naturists? Call the newsdesk on 020 8330 9550.