Magazines regarded as risqu enough to hide away in the Fifties have gone on display in Brighton.

David Burgess, owner of George Street Gallery, is displaying the rare magazines from his own collection.

During the Fifties and Sixties, nudity was still forbidden by law but pin-up magazines had started to sell.

However they were still classed as an under-the-counter product and usually very small so could be slipped into a pocket or hidden discreetly.

Many were sold by mail order for those who could not face the shame of buying one in a shop.

Photographers even used different names to render them difficult to trace by those who wanted to persecute or prosecute.

Mr Burgess says: "I've been collecting these magazines for the past 15 years and have found the pictures of men are even rarer than those of women.

"Physique Pictorial are the only ones that were mass produced and are available now.

"The female ones are rare but are easier to obtain. The pictures were charming and non-sexual then.

"The men look lovely but when the laws relaxed in the late Sixties and early Seventies to allow full nudes they were no longer wanted.

"Full nudes is what people wanted so the earlier ones were discarded and that's why they're so rare."

He said a famous photographer called Roye, highly regarded for his snaps of female nudes, was taken to court in the Fifties for publishing a photo displaying pubic hair.

The judge dismissed the case and the law was changed to make unshaved, un-airbrushed full frontals legal.

The show runs until June 28. Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm. Call 01273 681852.