A MAN has appeared in court charged with indecent exposure after his neighbours spotted him gardening in the nude.

Yan Price, 30, is said to have mowed the lawn in his back garden while naked but was spotted by his neighbours, two of them serving North Yorkshire police officers.

Howard Shaw, prosecuting, told York Crown Court yesterday that a female neighbour, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was in bed one Sunday morning last July when she heard Price start up his mower.

The young mother peered through her bedroom window to see Price in his garden tending to the lawn wearing a pair of shorts.

Mr Shaw said the neighbour again looked out of her window, but this time saw something she did not expect.

"She could see the defendant out in the garden and he wasn't wearing a stitch of clothing. He was completely naked using the lawnmower," he told the jury.

Price is also charged with breaching an ASBO which banned him from speaking to his neighbours, North Yorkshire police officers Tracy and Paul Rogers.

Mr Shaw said that in a panic, the female neighbour called the couple to ask their advice on what to do.

He said the group had felt intimidated on many occasions after complaining about Price sunbathing in the nude.

Mr Shaw said that Mrs Rogers could also see Price in his back garden from her house across the road.

She felt she could not ignore the problem as her friend and neighbour had called her in distress.

But Mark McKone, for Price, of Scholes Park Road, Scarborough, said his client had been victimised by his neighbours who did not want him living nearby.

He said Price had been mowing his lawn in a towel when he experienced problems with the mower.

As he struggled with the machine, the towel fell off, leaving Price naked for a few moments before he changed into a pair of shorts and continued with the gardening.

The trial continues.