Naked couple chased by PCS add to Salisbury police workload

POLICE in Salisbury had to chase a naked couple through the streets of the city, prompting the chief constable to complain: “We’ve already got enough to deal with.”

A man in his 20s and a woman in her 40s were caught having sex in public on Friday night in the city where Sergei Skripal, the former Russian double agent, and his daughter were poisoned with a nerve agent.

Officers chased the pair through Salisbury and the episode prompted Kier Pritchard, Wiltshire Police’s top officer, to address the act of indecency on Twitter.

Sharing a link to a local paper’s story about the incident, he said: “There’s something in the air in Salisbury... something that shouldn’t be seen in public. Behave this summer, we’ve already got enough to deal with.”

The couple were spotted in a field across the river from Queen Elizabeth Gardens – a park that was closed off and combed for evidence by specialist officers during in the aftermath of the Skripals’ attack.

Officers tracked them down to an address in Essex Square – more than a mile away from the location of their encounter.

A police spokesman told the Salisbury Journal they will be questioned on public indecency grounds.

The chief constable was criticised by some online, with one Twitter user telling him to “get a life” and “concentrate on real crime”.

Mr Pritchard replied: “Unfortunately, [it’s] not something we can turn a blind eye to. Believe me, we’d rather focus on protecting vulnerable people, community presence and prevention.”