Six nudists fined £3,000 each at Lake Como

Six Italians who were sunbathing completely naked on the shores of Italy's Lake Como have been fined € 3,333 (£3,000) each for acting “against public decency.”

The nudists were spotted on Sunday by the carabinieri police patrolling the shores of the popular lake by boat, to ensure that beach-goers complied with social-distancing rules.

According to local media, the six men – aged between 43 and 68 – were sunbathing on the small beaches of Abbadia Lariana, which was crowded with both local and international tourists.

The men, mostly from the nearby towns of Como and Varese, were fined a total of €20,000.

The Italian government has intensified checks on beaches and popular holiday sites to ensure that citizens respect health measures aimed at preventing new coronavirus clusters.

Wearing protective masks, even outdoors, is still compulsory in the northern Lombardy region, where Lake Como is located, which the men were not wearing.

Lake Como is an extremely popular tourist spot, with hundreds of thousands flocking to it every year. George Clooney also owns a home nearby.

Lombardy has been the worst-hit among Italian regions by the Covid-19 pandemic. On Tuesday, the number of confirmed fatalities reached 16,713 – almost half the nationwide tally – with 53 new cases reported over the last 24 hours.

Italian authorities and experts worry that the start of the summer season, with huge crowds of tourists invading holiday sites, could spark a second wave in the autumn.