Morris dancers, it has to be said, are not renowned for their sizzling sex appeal.

The image of grown men and women parading in knee-high white socks with bells round their ankles is hardly likely to make anyone go weak at the knees.

But now, 20 members of Sompting Village Morris Dancers have obliterated that traditional stereotype by baring all in a saucy, full colour pin-up calendar.

What started as a giggle among friends grew to a set of more than 30 risque poses in and around Worthing. The dancers, aged from 40 to 60, hope to raise thousands of pounds for stroke patients at The Oaks Unit, Southlands Hospital, Shoreham, in memory of their former squire, or leader, Lyn Mathews, who died earlier this year.

Grandfather Martin Frost, 50, a commercial artist who features in the April and September pages, said: "We experienced our second flush of youth. The men are not exactly built like rugby players but that is half the joke."

Mr Frost, of Queen Street, Worthing, added: "The group loves entertaining people and had masses of fun shooting the calendar. I directed most of the poses because of my background in design. We certainly shocked a few passers-by."

Fishermen were startled as a team of female morris dancers stripped and cavorted in the waves at Worthing beach. Walkers went boggle-eyed at the sight of dancers wearing nothing but ribbons and bells, prancing in cornfields in the Downs.

Other locations included The High Salvington Mill, near Worthing, and a farm in the Downs where Steve Clarke performed a naughty May Day dance, leaping through the air spread-eagled.

All the images, taken by professional photographer Jenny Ventris during a four-day shoot, were inspired by authentic morris dancing steps.

Mr Frost said: "Our former squire Lyn Mathews would have thought the calendar was a hoot. She was a very fruity lady and would have been at the front of most of the pictures."

Two thousand copies of the A3-size calendar will go on sale to the public tomorrow, price £6. Anyone who would like a copy should send a cheque for £6 plus £2 postage and packing to Sompting Village Morris Dancers, 93 Congreve Road, Worthing BN14 8EN. Alternatively, e-mail: svmcalendar@yahoo.co.uk The calendars will also be sold in Worthing at The Beechwood Hotel and the Charles Dickens, Half Brick, Richard Cobden and White Swan pubs.

Others pubs selling the calendar include The Ball Tree in Sompting, Fletchers Arms in East Preston, Locomotive in Lyminster, Henby Arms in Ferring, Spotted Cow in Angmering, Sportsman in Amberley and Red Lion in Shoreham.