Bad weather threatens Lincolnshire nudist wildlife park ramble

The event is scheduled to take place at Wolds Wildlife Park, near Horncastle, next month

Plans for a naked ramble around a Lincolnshire wildlife park are hanging in the balance due to bad weather, organisers say.

Nudist group Naked Lincolnshire hopes to hold the event at Wolds Wildlife Park on 9 July but say uptake is slow.

Chris Petchey, 57, said: "It's proving difficult to get people to commit as the weather has been diabolical.

"People generally want warm weather if they are going to take their clothes off."

Chris Petchey during a previous Naked Lincolnshire excursion

Mr Petchey, who set up Naked Lincolnshire in 2019, said he needed a minimum of 20 bookings for the the "clothes optional" event to go ahead, but to date only 14 have confirmed.

He said he recently enjoyed a stroll - fully-clothed - around the wildlife park, and said fellow naturists would enjoy returning to nature, surrounded by animals including brown bears, lions, tigers and monkeys.

He said: "I often go somewhere and suddenly think to myself, 'We should do that naked!'

"I never hear back from a good two thirds of places I approach for permission to hold events. Wolds Wildlife Park is a wonderful place."

The event is scheduled to take place from 18:00 BST, after the park has closed to the general public.

The park's management said they are "nudist virgins" but added they were "only too happy to oblige".

Sharron Tonge, the park's events coordinator, said: "This will be a new experience for us. We are very open-minded. We are just hoping for a warm evening."