US town responds to Free the Nipple campaign by making nudity laws even tighter

In the US, it is legal for women to go topless in cities, but less so in surrounding counties

A small town in the US has responded to a women's nudity equality campaign by tightening the law yet further to ban "sideboob" and "underboob" - whilst removing a clause about having erection in public.

Council members in Springfield, Missouri, have branded a local Free the Nipple campaign, which says women should not be arrested for sunbathing topless, as “appalling”, according to the Springfield News-Leader.

And in a move which has angered campaigners, the council has now upped the restrictions to prevent women showing nipples "from the top of the areola all the way down, and round both sides - basically the bottom half of the breast".

According to a county government video, buttocks are also targeted by the new law, which now disallows men and women from showing any part of their buttocks rather than just covering "the centre third" (bottom crease).

At the same time, however, a clause which forbids "the showing of covered male genitals in a discernibly turgid state" has been removed.

In the US, it is legal for women to be topless in many cities but not always their surrounding counties, according to pressure group GoTopless.

Yet the law is not always known by police officers, with many arresting women under wrongful "indecent exposure" or "disorderly conduct" measures - whilst other states such as Utah, Indiana and Tennessee have absolute laws banning women from showing their breasts.

Rebekah Stanford, a spokesperson against the new law in Springfield, said: "I am outraged that it is OK for women to be naked on magazine covers - but when I fight for my right for equality, I am suddenly indecent and immoral."

According to Springfield News Reader, local mayor Bob Stephens was disappointed by the outcome. He said: "I suspect when somebody writes the history of Springfield about this particular time, that chapter is going to be titled, ‘The Summer of Our Disappointment’. Because there’s plenty of disappointment to go around.”

However, councillor Justin Burnett described the topless rallies as "appalling". On 7 August he tweeted: "Tonight's topless rally - which subjects families to nudity - is outrageous. I am calling on the council to pass an enhanc 3800786701001 ed indecent exposure order."

There is now a Facebook campaign for Mr Burnett to be recalled from the council which has attracted more than a thousand members.