Naked rambler Stephen Gough has been jailed for a total of 21 months after he was arrested seconds after walking free from an earlier jail term.

Gough - who has become notorious for trying to walk around Britain naked - was picked up by police just yards from the doors of Perth Prison on December 17.

He was found guilty at Perth Sheriff Court last month of breaching the peace by walking naked in a public place.

The eccentric ex-lorry driver was warned that he could end up spending the rest of his life in prison if he refuses to put clothes on. On the past two occasions when he has been freed from jail, officers from Tayside Police were waiting at the jail gates to re-arrest him.

The 50-year-old earlier turned down the offer to go home to Eastleigh in Hampshire to see his mother because he would not accept the condition of getting dressed.

Gough said: "Essentially this is about individual freedom and people's tolerance to other people being different. I understand a lot of people will disagree and have strong feelings about it.

"Walking the amount of miles I have, through towns and cities, it is on the whole a very small moral minority who act in an irrational way. I believe I am behaving in a reasonable way."

Gough was allowed to conduct his own defence in open court while completely naked.  But he was found guilty of breach of the peace and contempt of court.

He will now serve 180 days of his previous sentence plus 12 months for his new offence as well as three months for contempt of court.

Sentencing, Sheriff Lindsay Foulis said: "You have no contrition or remorse for your behaviour.  You take no account of other person's views whatsoever.

"Since 2003 you have accumulated 20 convictions. Since 2004 you have been sentenced to a total of six years and three months despite warnings."