THESE Hampshire Heritage photographs of semi-naked dancing and “group celebrations” caused outrage in the village of Sparsholt in 1977.

Residents of the sleepy Hampshire community were reportedly “disgusted” with the activities of members of an obscure sect, the Yogi Boogie Society.

About a dozen members of the group spent three days in the village in July 1977, dancing, meditating and playing together to express themselves.

But their arrival and activities were not welcomed by residents.

After the event, the group’s leader, psychotherapist Michael Lee Green, told the Evening Echo: “We are getting people together so they can express their inner self through group celebrations.

“There are no drugs here. We just turn ourselves on.”

The society was formed in California and its members said their aim was “the dissemination of life-giving karma through groups, love, work, play, yoga, music, food and sun”.

Mr Green continued: “We have a good time getting to know ourselves. At the end we shall be much more aware of our bodies.”

Followers of the “society” paid £29 for the Yogi Boogie weekend, which included accommodation, food and – according to Mr Green – “a lot of fun”.

Most of the activities at the weekend were held behind closed doors in the village hall, which the sect had hired.

David Stockwell, secretary of Sparsholt Community Council, which ran the village hall, told the Echo: We did not know the purpose for which it was let.”

Despite most of the group’s activities being held in private, some residents were still not happy with the temporary hippie invasion of their village.

One resident who lived near the hall said: “I was disgusted when I heard what was going on.

“I have been in the village for 40 years and nothing like this has happened before.”

Another resident said the group had made so much noise that a complaint had been made to the police.