A COUPLE have closed their naturist bed and breakfast after getting fed up of being called by swingers and sex pests.

Mike Howard and Margaret Pate say they were forced to halt the operation, near Cellarhead, after receiving abusive calls from people looking for sex.

The couple opened up Domain Farm as a naturist retreat last year to supplement their income and hoped to attract families and nudist club members.

But a message posted on their website says comments made last year during a radio broadcast, which were reported in a national newspaper and a naturist publication, "had resulted in a significant number of unwanted enquiries regarding the accommodation that we offer".

The statement adds the project was intended to be a retreat from the public eye "not a showcase, not an evangelical naturist club and definitely not a forum for inappropriate behaviour".

And father-of-one Mike, aged 49, told The Sentinel: "We got people asking for sex, calling from withheld numbers. We pulled out the dregs of society.

"We are not prepared to tolerate that or invite that sort of person into our home. It got to the point where we didn't want to answer the phone."

The recession has hit the couple hard over the past few months.

As well deciding to close the B&B, Mike's industrial computer system business collapsed after orders dried up.

While 46-year-old Margaret works as a programme office controller, Mike cares for their 18-month-old daughter Helen.

The couple remain naturists, but plan to keep their lifestyle choices on a "low key" basis in the future.

Mike is now offering Swedish massage therapy and hot stones massage on a freelance basis.

Mike said: "I'm not doing naturist massage – although it does make it easier if clothes are not getting in the way.

"I'm stressing the family aspect, that I'm fitting it around childcare. "

Graeme Whitehead, of tourism body Destination Staffordshire, said it was unfortunate that any accommodation provider had to cease trading.