30 couples caught having sex in public by West Mercia Police

In an answer to a Freedom of Information request the force said it had received reports of couples in a range of places, including fields, gardens, woodland and even town centres.

The offences, which come under the category of "committing an act outraging public decency", took place between January 2011 and November this year.

In total 30 couples were caught, although no details have been released about the action taken by police following the incidents or if any of the couples were prosecuted.

The most common area described in the police reports was woodland, with a total of eight instances, while there were five in town centres.

It was also revealed that there were four cases relating to cars, and another four in parks, as well as one "in a dwelling viewable from the street".

Other locations included a toilet block, one incident on a bus, one in an underpass, another on a playing field and one in a residential area.

West Midlands Police meanwhile caught a total of 26 couples over the same period of time. Ten couples were caught having sex on the road, six in the park and two on a public footpath.

Couples were also caught having sex outside properties, in a car park and at an airport.

Officers can charge those caught having sex with committing an act of outraging public decency. The maximum sentence for the charge is six months in prison.

In legal terms an "act outraging public decency" is one committed where "the act was of such a lewd character as to outrage public decency".

This element constitutes the nature of the act, which has to be proved before the offence can be established.

A second criteria must be established which is that "the act took place in a public place and must have been capable of being seen by two or more persons who were actually present, even if they did not actually see it."