Iconic London pub the Coach and Horses granted nudist licence

A landmark London pub has become the first boozer in the capital where regulars can strip bare as they sip their beer.

Soho favourite the Coach and Horses is the only pub in London to have been granted a nudist licence, and the rare allowance will mean that both guests and members of staff will be allowed to go without clothes.

Don’t expect to find punters to be naked all the time though – any nudity needs to be pre-arranged and consensual, and naked drinking sessions will only take place on select dates.

The news comes after staff and loyal punters appeared in a naked charity calendar, as part of a battle against the takeover of the pub. Independent landlord Alastair Choat fears the pub will become “vanilla” after brewery Fuller’s refused to renew his lease, which expires on June 1.

Along with the French House, the pub is one of the great Soho drinking institutions. A regular haunt for the likes of Peter O’Toole and Lucian Freud, it was also the setting for the Keith Waterhouse play Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell. A production of the play is currently being held at the pub, with Robert Bathurst starring.

The beloved boozer also has a history of setting trends in the city, after becoming the first London pub to go fully vegetarian in 2012. Time will tell whether other boozers decide to join them in stripping off too.

The Coach has been run by Choat since 2006, who told CNN Travel: “We were the first vegetarian pub in London and now we’re the first pub with a nudist licence.

“Making the calendar has been great fun and all proceeds after cost will go towards our local charity, St Mungo’s. We had to turn lots of people down due to the limitations of a calendar."