A COUPLE caught having sex in public were chased naked by police in Salisbury on Friday evening.

Officers were called at 5.45pm to a report of two people having sex in a field across the river from Queen Elizabeth Gardens.

When officers attended nearby, the pair ran off along the riverbank towards Harnham.

A man in his twenties and a woman in her forties were later found at an address in Essex Square.

They will be questioned for outraging public decency.

A police spokesman said: "We were called at approximately 5.45pm on 20 April to a report of two people have sex in a field across the river at Queen Elizabeth Gardens.

"When officers attended nearby, the pair made off.

"Two people, a man aged in his 20s and a woman aged in her 40s, were later located at an address in the city and have been invited in for interview for outraging public decency."

What constitutes outraging public decency?

Public decency is a level of behaviour which is generally acceptable to the public and is not obscene, disgusting or shocking for the observers.

Outraging public decency is an indictable common law offence which is punishable by unlimited imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. To be guilty of this offence:

  • You must carry out an act which is lewd, obscene or of disgusting character, which outrages minimum standards of public decency as assessed by the jury;

  • The act must take place in a public place, or a place which is accessible to, or within view of, the public;

  • The act must take place in the actual presence of two or more persons who are capable of seeing it – it is irrelevant whether these people actually saw the act or were outraged by it.