Naked delight as nudists win right to bare all on beach

Nudists are a pretty tolerant bunch.

But when a beach came under threat from developers it was too much to bear.

Defence research group Qinetiq had been involved in a two-and-a-half-year battle to get planning permission for more than 100 flats on former Ministry of Defence land next to the nudist beach at Eastney in Portsmouth.

The naturists opposed the plans, fearing Qinetiq would ban them so as not to put off potential buyers.

Yesterday they won the right to enjoy the beach after the company agreed to allow them access.

Mike Houlsby of the Eastney Naturist Beach Liaison Group said: 'Nudists have been using the beach since the mid-1930s and the MoD always turned a blind eye.'

The 51-year-old father of one from Portsmouth added: 'On a sunny weekend hundreds of us of all ages and from all over come to enjoy the beach.'