A 53-year-old British man nicknamed the Naked Rambler has walked out of prison naked — and was not immediately re-arrested, unlike after his previous releases.

Stephen Gough has served six years for refusing to wear clothes and was allowed to go free after an apparent shift in police policy, the BBC reported.

Gough was released from Perth Prison and although he was spoken to by officers of the Tayside Police on his way out, they didn't arrest him within 60 seconds as on previous releases, the broadcaster reported.

"We have been working closely with our partners in law enforcement and the individual concerned in an effort to resolve this impasse," Chief Insp. Andy McCann told the BBC.

"We hope that by exercising some discretion we can find a more satisfactory conclusion for all concerned."

Gough became known as the Naked Rambler when he walked in the nude from Land's End, England, to John o'Groats, Scotland, in 2003 after he quit his job as a truck driver.

"This is my job. This is my vocation in life at the moment," Gough told the BBC of his naked rambles. "I have absolutely no regrets, especially now. I think I have partially proved my point by making the police think more carefully about the issue."