Bare buttocks cause stir

Bare buttocks on billboards in Nicosia are the talk of the town in the Cypriot capital, but officials see no need to cover them up.

Bare buttocks plastered on billboards in Nicosia are the talk of the town in the Cypriot capital, but officials see no need to cover them up.

Complaints have poured in to local councils over the advert for a clothes chain showing a close-up of a woman's bottom, bare except for a tan-colored thong.

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One member of parliament, Maria Kyriakou, from the opposition Democratic Rally party, told Reuters it could even be a "potential distraction for drivers."

But local authorities say they have no say on the content of adverts, police say they've seen worse, and the media watchdog says billboards are beyond its standard remit.

"Regardless of that, we have to look at the matter because a complaint was filed. If it was clearly pornographic we could possibly intervene, but sometimes you see even more explicit pictures in family magazines," said Petros Petrides, secretary of the Media Complaints Commission.

That view was echoed by a police spokesman, who said: "It's not considered obscene. Magazines show worse things."

The poster takes its place among a sea of posters advertising candidates for parliamentary elections on May 21.