THIS is the moment the Naked Rambler was arrested, minutes after defying a legal ruling to finally put some clothes on.

As reported yesterday, magistrates in Southampton had handed Stephen Gough an interim antisocial behaviour order (ASBO) in a last-ditch attempt to persuade him to cover up.

But he refused, strolled out of court in the nude and was immediately arrested.

Now he faces being jailed for up to five years.

Gough, 54, of Chamberlayne Road, Eastleigh, was barred from the actual courtroom after he insisted on remaining naked and the case was heard in his absence.

Hampshire police were represented by the force solicitor, Roger Trencher, who said Gough had often been arrested over the past six years for appearing naked in public.

He added: “The criminal law has been powerless to prevent his behaviour.

“Mr Gough considers it his right to walk around naked, but he is disregarding his responsibilities.

“There is understandable harassment, alarm and distress every time he goes out.”

Mr Trencher said Gough’s “selfish actions” were placing an intolerable burden on police resources and the public purse.

He added: “Every time he leaves his house the police start to get calls.

“We would very much like him to stop harassing the people of Hampshire.”

But Michael McGoldrick, for Gough, said: “It’s his view that society at large is prejudiced against nakedness and the only way he can stand up to that prejudice is to walk around naked,”

said Mr McGoldrick.

“He believes that the order is a means to an end – the end being to get him locked up.”

District Judge Lorraine Morgan agreed to grant the ASBO, which required him to cover his genitals and buttocks whenever he leaves his home.

But Gough immediately flouted the order and was arrested by two police officers outside the court building.

He spent last night in custody and was due to appear before Southampton magistrates again today.

Breaching an ASBO can result in a maximum jail term of five years.