THE last time he graced these pages, Richard Collins was wearing nothing more than a pair of trainers and socks.

When he arrived at Bournemouth Magistrates’ Court yesterday, the committed naturist decided to at least don a pair of shorts and a jumper as he pleaded not guilty to a public order offence.

He appeared in court after being arrested on June 30 at Sandbanks, having cycled from a friend’s home in Charminster in the nude.

Mr Collins, 53, is known as the Cambridge Nude Cyclist and he will now face a three-day trial at Bournemouth Magistrates in December.

Speaking to the Daily Echo after the hearing, he said: “Why waste time on it, especially when the government are trying to cut back on public money being spent?

“It’s a waste.

“It’s not an offence to be naked in public, there’s no law against it, so to use the Public Order Act is wrong.”

The electrical engineer was charged under the Act for “disorderly behaviour within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress thereby”.

During the short hearing prosecutor Samantha Baker told magistrates that “many people” were alarmed by Mr Collins’ behaviour on June 30, including families with young children.

Annabel Timan, who is defending Mr Collins, said his behaviour had not caused alarm or distress to others.

Mr Collins, a naturist of three decades, has spent years promoting the cause.

He said he began cycling naked in the countryside around his Cambridgeshire home in 2002.

He was given unconditional bail.