A MAN brought traffic to a standstill when he stroll through Bury in the snow - wearing nothing more than a scarf!

Passers-by and motorists looked on in disbelief as the naked man walked along Parsonage Street and into Bell Lane, seemingly unconcerned by the attention he was attracting. He braved the freezing weather conditions with only a woolly scarf to keep him warm.

Bury Police said they received a number of calls from members of the public who spotted the man on Tuesday lunchtime. No action was taken.

One of the surprised observers was Mr Tom Platt of Manchester Road, Bury, who was in his works van when he spotted the nude walker.

"I stopped and rolled down the window to speak to him," he said. "I asked him if he was alright and he replied that he was. I then asked what he was doing and he told me he was going for a stroll and that his name was Keith. He asked me if I wanted to join him, but I declined. And it was snowing at the time.

"At first I thought he may have been on a stag do and was walking the streets as a prank or perhaps he had been thrown out of his house.

"Many people saw him. It was just unbelievable and he virtually brought the traffic to a halt. He went off up Bell Lane, towards Rochdale."

Mr Platt took photographs of the naked snow streaker using his mobile telephone in case friends wouldn't believe him.