Sans shirt... it's all in a British summer

Warm summer sunshine. Ruddy marvellous isn’t it?

I’m getting rather a taste for it now, and all the brilliant things that come with it.

Lunch breaks spent in the sun with a book. Fish and chips by the sea. The smell of freshly cut grass. Walks and pub lunches. Shorts and t-shirts. All good stuff.

But for some, when the sun comes out, strange things start to happen.

A select band of men feel the need to take their shirts off in public. Young men in their mid to late teens appear to be the main offenders, but you can see men of all ages letting it all hang out on a high street near you. There are two main types. Take your pick from pasty white chaps with scrawny frames, or the pot-bellied variety, their flab overhanging their waistband. Hardly a sight for sore eyes. (Incidentally, I'm being a bit unfair by including the photo above as the man here - who looks uncannily like Ed Balls - is at least by the pool, which is an acceptable place for bellies to hang out).

But why do they do it? If it’s to attract the opposite sex, it’s more likely to act as a deterrent. If it’s the bronzed Adonis look you’re after, well, that doesn’t appear to have worked either.

Just do us all a favour, and put it away. Ta.