The federal court threw out an appeal by a man who was fined after hiking past a family picnic area with no clothes on.

Judges said the eastern canton (region) of Appenzell had been entitled to uphold a law on public decency.

They said the ban on n**ed hiking was only a marginal infringement on personal freedom.

Although Switzerland does not have a law against public n**ity it does have one against public indecency.

The man had been fined 100 Swiss francs (£69; $109) after he walked n**ed past a family with small children at a picnic area and a Christian rehabilitation centre for drug users in Appenzell.

"It is not overly high-handed to qualify n**ed hiking as a breach of decency customs," the court said in a statement.

The BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva says n**ed hiking is an increasingly popular pastime in Switzerland.

However, Appenzell is a deeply devout and conservative canton - it only granted women the right to vote in 1990 - and the influx of n**ed hikers has offended many local people, she adds.

The new ruling applies to the entire country.

N**ed hikers may now have to look for another country which offers them a warmer welcome, our correspondent says.

source: bbc