A NEIGHBOUR spent six days painting his house and riding an exercise bike NUDE in protest over a home built next door he said invaded his privacy.

James Penlidis said he had been assured the new place going up next to him would have frosted glass in five windows overlooking his bedroom and living room.

When the windows went in, the glass was clear — and Mr Penlidis was livid.

media_camera James Penlidis takes a spin on the stationary bike beneath the offending windows.

“I was walking around at boiling point,” he said.

“I was lied to by so many people — council, builders, surveyors. So I thought ‘if you want something to look at, I’ll give you something’.”

Mr Penlidis peeled off, lit his barbecue (carefully, we hope) and cleaned his gutters — all in plain view of his new neighbours daring to venture too close to the glass in the Melbourne suburb of Bentleigh.

And with these photos taken under clear blue skies, and his lack of slip and slap, we can only hope he slopped on the sunscreen.

media_camera Mr Penlidis turns a snag or two in full view.

“No-one wants to see a hairy Greek guy with it all hanging out,” he said.

“I’m having fun with it rather than blowing up.

“They (the neighbours) were looking out the window, saw me starkers and backed off like a bungee jump.”

He said stripping off was a way to show how exposed and unprotected residents were when dealing with the building process.

Mr Penlidis acknowledged while it was legal for the windows, which were more than 3m away, to be clear, they were an invasion of privacy.

He claimed a council worker had verbally promised there would be frosted windows when he inspected the plans before approval.

media_camera James Penlidis said he wanted to “have fun” in his campaign.

“I’ve learnt to get things in writing,” he said. “The process is not designed to look out for the average person.”

Online fans praised the ingenuity of the protest.

“One approach to dealing with planning decisions you don’t like!” wrote Gem Ma on Facebook.

Others posted admiring comments, with Kay Webster commenting: “Could be worse ‘views’ to look at…”

Mr Penlidis said the wave of public support didn’t surprise him because many could relate to his predicament.

Council spokesman Ron Torres said the house didn’t require a planning permit because it was single dwelling in a residential zone.

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He said a private building surveyor had decided what level of privacy protection was required, not the council.

“Developers do not receive preferential treatment over residents,” he said.

The protest worked — eventually. Six days after Mr Penlidis dropped his togs, frosting appeared on the windows.

And with another six single-level weatherboard houses within 30m of his house now slated for demolition and rebuilding, he might just have to do it all again.

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