How a naked yoga session on a beach led to a £10,000 manhunt

Officers feared a couple had committed suicide, drowned after a late-night swim or even 'done a Reggie Perrin'.

But the items belonged to a man who had stripped down for a midnight yoga session on the beach - and forgotten where he had left his clothes.

Beach yoga: Generally harmless unless you leave your clothes behind

A manhunt began when a pile of clothing was found on 10.30pm Monday night. A second set was found around 1.30am on Tuesday.

The search involved police divers and three separate teams of coastguards in Margate, Kent.

The mystery was solved when a man from Margate contacted police at 11.30am yesterday to say he had been doing yoga on the beach in the early hours.

He told police he had forgotten where he left the clothes - and had taken a spare set for just such an eventuality. Then he apparently left them as well.

A source at Margate police station added: 'We've got enough crime around here as it is without having our guys' time wasted with some idiot who fancied trying out the lotus position in the middle of the night.'

The 1970s sitcom character Reggie Perrin faked his death by dumping his clothes on a beach and running away to a new life.