London ? Wearing little more than sun screen, socks and boots, Steve Gough is walking the length of Britain to celebrate the joys of nudity. Efficiency isn’t one of them.

His 847-mile trek has been hampered by eight arrests, an examination at a psychiatric hospital and several nights in jail. This week, he’s starting over after police shipped him back to his starting point in Cornwall for a court appearance.

But the 44-year-old father of two is undaunted and spent Thursday hitchhiking his way back to Scotland — though he did wear clothes to increase his chances of getting a lift.

“I am celebrating myself as a human being,” Gough said. “We have all been brought up and conditioned to think our body is something to be ashamed of. We are made to feel bad about ourselves, and that is damaging society. I am determined to carry on.”

Gough left Land’s End in southwest England on June 16 bound for John O’Groats in the far north of Scotland, hoping to cover around 20 miles a day on foot.

One day and 15 miles later, he was arrested in St. Ives and charged with breach of the peace. The case was abandoned after magistrates found he had not committed a criminal offense.

Three days later, he was arrested in the Cornish coastal resort of Newquay and charged with offending public decency. He appeared — stark naked — in court Monday. The court forced him to wear a blanket but did not impose a fine.

“It has taken a week out of my walk,” said Gough, whose bare backside graced the pages of The Independent newspaper Thursday. “But I have had a bit of publicity.”

The intrepid rambler insists he is not a nudist, but a person who wants to “enlighten the public, as well as the authorities that govern us, that the freedom to go naked in public is a basic human right.”

Steve Gough, 44, pauses while walking outside Carlisle, England. Gough is attempting to walk the 847-mile length of Britain to celebrate the joys of nudity.