spectacular attempt to escape Police.

By-standers watched in disbelief yesterday afternoon as the man streaked naked across Southampton Rangers football pitch and through nearby gardens.

The bloodstained man had lost his clothes while climbing over a barbed wire fence at the club in a desperate attempt to evade capture.

More than 20 Police officers took part in the half mile long chase capturing the man in the pump house of a property in Palm Valley.

The excitement began, yesterday lunchtime, when Police officers patrolling Chaplin Bay spotted what they believed to be a handbag theft.

Upon approaching the suspect, who was walking with a pit bull terrier dog, he ran -- starting the chase that reached South Road.

Mrs. Susan Waldron who runs the snack bar at the Rangers ground saw the man leap onto the fence.

Mrs. Waldron said: "He let go of the dog and then I saw him hopping over the fence. His shirt and shorts were caught on the barbed wire and when he fell he tore his clothes off.

"I could not believe my eyes. All I could see was this naked man running across the football field.

"The Police did not follow him over the fence, they went around to Horseshoe Road. The dog came trotting through and I caught him and tied him up. He was well behaved.'' Police arrived in cars and on motorcycles and began to search the area including an embankment full of undergrowth.

But they finally surrounded a house in Palm Valley and caught the man, hiding his embarrassment with a piece of clothing as they took him to a car. He appeared to have suffered wounds from the barbed wire fence and was covered in blood.

The owner of the house said that she believed he had been hiding in her pump house because the door had been open.

Police stayed at the scene to remove the clothing from the fence and to find a home for the dog.

A Police spokesman could not comment on the incident yesterday.

IN THE RAW -- Police have the suspected handbag snatcher covered as they lead him from the house in Southampton.