A Hampstead Garden Suburb resident laid bare his opinion on government funding for nuclear weapons last week - exposing more than just a political conscience in the process.

Wearing nothing but shoes, socks and a smile, Jesse Schust, 35, stood outside the gates of Faslane naval base in Scotland with three other equally unclad cohorts to protest against the Government's nuclear programme. Protecting their dignity were a number of placards proclaiming such things as 'Nudes Against Nukes' and 'Renewing Trident is naked aggression'.

The group were forced to reveal all when they realised that only four of them had turned up for the protest and an attempted blockade of the site might not be quite as effective as they had hoped.

Mr Schust said: "We thought about alternative ideas and decided we wanted something similarly peaceful but with a bit of flair. A lot of thought went into it. We had to practice how to strip off as we didn't want to get tangled up in our clothes if they tried to stop us."

The group perfected their routine over lunch, honing it down to a swift five seconds by fashioning 'quick release' jackets closed with velcro and safety pins.

"It was a bit like The Full Monty," added Mr Schust. "But not quite as stylish."

Unfortunately, the group had barely got down to the crutch - sorry, the crux - of the issue when the police turned up and arrested them. But Mr Schust is hopeful that the 27 seconds of exposure was enough to make a difference.

"Our protest helped the campaign by showing that if people do turn up with nothing, they can still turn to our technique."

After all, with secret weapons like that at their disposal, who needs nuclear missiles?