Police warned a British tourist who was allegedly sunbathing naked next to a convenience store in Thailand.

Cops confronted the exhibitionist holidaymaker, Philip Raymond North, 32, after complaints for three days running that he had disrobed in public in Phuket.

Footage captured on June 6 shows the dreadlocked backpacker with a scraggly blonde beard standing with his trousers pulled down around his hips.

Police Lieutenant Sin Saiyajit of the Thalang Police Station said officers were called to the scene as onlookers were disturbed by the foreigner flashing his buttocks in public.

They found the tattooed Brit - seemingly in need of a shower - sitting on a plastic advertisement and drinking tea while soaking up the sunlight.

Philip claimed said he travelled to the convenience store by motorcycle and took off his clothes 'because he thought the air was nice, like sunbathing at a beach'.

Police ordered him to clothe himself and vacate the place as nudity was not permitted. However, the tourist requested to stay for a few more minutes 'to finish his tea'.

Police Lieutenant Sin said: 'We instructed him to return to his accommodation at Naiyang Beach and told him to sunbathe on the beach instead because this area is not the appropriate place to do that.'

Locals said Philip had been seen stripping in the area, frequented by schoolchildren, for around three days before the police finally stepped in.

Under Section 388 of Thailand's Criminal Code, 'any person who performs such a disgraceful act in public by undressing himself, exhibiting his undressed person or committing any other act of obscenity shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred baht.'