The Canterbury World Naked Bike Ride jaunt on Saturday got off to an entertaining start as one "over-excited" male participant was spotted sporting an erection.

One shaken onlooker said: "Everyone was taking their clothes off to get ready for the ride. I heard gasps and I turned around – it was a horrible sight. It's fair to say he was over-excited and got aroused. It looked like he was enjoying the event a bit too much."

With his trousers back on, and following a quick word from the cops, the man was given his marching orders.

Ride organiser Barry Freeman explained: "We do not accept this behaviour and he was dealt with and removed before the ride started."

Participants had been issued a "stiff warning" about "inappropriate behaviour" following the inaugural 2013 event, which saw a 65-year-old man roll up at the finish line, without either clothes or a bicycle. He told KentOnline: "I'm not riding, but I'm enjoying being here with nothing on. And I like to look at the girls."

Specifically regarding public engorgements, men were advised: "Should you become aroused, you WILL pull over to the side of the road and cover yourself or dress immediately."

The advice continued: "The nudity is specifically to draw attention to how vulnerable cyclists are when riding alongside motor vehicles, not to draw attention to you as an individual. Nudity in the Canterbury World Naked Bike Ride is NOT an excuse for self-exhibitionism."

Indeed, this year's Canterbury World Naked Bike Ride was intended to protest the city council's "continuing failure to protect the public from the daily unacceptable levels of air pollution in the city, which breach EU permitted limits and the council’s own policy", as Freeman explained.

He added: "Canterbury needs a drastic and radical change to how it controls the perceived need for private motor vehicle use. The city has become a slave to the motor car." ®