ESSEX has been exposed as the “dogging capital of the UK” after it featured in a shocking Channel 4 show.

The county, which has gained a  reputation for vajazzles and spray tans thanks to TOWIE, is now just as famous for kinky dogging sex.

Almost two million viewers were glued to Dogging Tales on Thursday night.

It featured couples wearing animal masks having nookie in car parks and woods and getting a big thrill by letting strangers join in or watch.

The dogging venue exposed in the show was High Beech in Epping Forest.

Twitter went into meltdown from viewers who said they planned to visit the area to have a look.

There are also car parks, lay-bys and woodland spots in and around Chelmsford, Basildon, Romford, Southend, Colchester, Harlow and Brentwood designated on the internet by a website “Dogging After Dark” as Essex dogging sites.

Couples have been spotted taking part in sex acts at Whitburn’s Lizard Point car park since it was reopened after the winter season.

Now fears are growing the spot could become a regular haunt for the sordid “dogging” craze – which hit the headlines this week after footballer Stan Collymore was caught prowling for casual sex in a Staffordshire car park.

Peter Collins, National Trust warden for Whitburn Coastal Park, said: “This appears to be one of the places where people come for this type of thing.

“The place has been shut for a few weeks but is now open again and there was a couple there just the other day.”

Last year, a sleazy website promoted the beauty spot to other “doggers” looking to meet up with strangers.

Comments posted on the site suggest the car park is a favourite for transvestites, transsexuals and young gay men, although no reports of this type of activity have been received.

Last year, two men were arrested on suspicion of carrying out indecent acts at Ryhope Dene, on Sunderland’s coastline.

It later emerged the area had been identified as a suitable “meeting point” for men on gay chatrooms and internet web pages.

Evidence had been uncovered by police which suggests men from across the region were regularly meeting at the beauty spot to have sex.

Inspector Paul Foggin, from Sunderland West Area Command, said: “We have received no reports of anything like this since last June.”

Dogging got its name from people who walked dogs as an excuse to meet strangers for sex – watching them is called “piking”.

Mr Collins added: “People come in both on foot and in their cars.”

ALMOST four thousand people across Londonderry and Donegal are registered members of a website openly advocating exotic lifestyle practices in some of the North West’s most popular outdoor public spaces.

The layby on Great Coates Road in Grimsby, between Healing and Great Coates,  close to the A1136 road which leads to the A180 – a popular dogging spot
LINCOLNSHIRE Police have urged doggers to take a common sense approach to sex  in public places.

It follows a documentary – Dogging Tales, shown on Channel 4 last night,  which provoked huge reaction on social networking sites

Dogging is a growing craze, especially in rural areas such as  Lincolnshire.

There are now dogging networks online where people can set up meetings  before-hand and Horseshoe Point seems to be a meeting place they all  recommend.

However, Terry Ball, Lincolnshire Police’s Inspector for the Community  Policing Teams in the Wolds says sex in a public place is common and only  becomes a problem when others notice.

He said: “The issue of Public Sex Environments is certainly not a new  one.

“Individuals or groups of individuals from many cultures and genres use  public spaces to meet and sometimes to engage in sexual activity.

“This can sometimes be seen as outraging public decency but on many occasions  vast sections of our communities do not even know it is happening.

“There is a fine line when dealing with such situations, as for some, this is  an accepted practice with strict codes of conduct.

People meeting up for “dogging” are preventing children from visiting a nature spot, it has been claimed.

They are gathering in sand dunes at Seacroft Marsh in Skegness and surprising visitors, according to Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust.

Dave Miller, a coastal ranger for the trust, said he is loath to take children to the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

He wants help from the public to monitor the extent of the problem.

‘Unsavoury things’

A public meeting is being held at Gibraltar Point Visitor Centre at 19:00 GMT on Tuesday.

Mr Miller said: “In some areas it happens at night-time and out of the way and it’s not a problem but this is happening during the daytime.

“People do bump into people doing unsavoury things.

“If there’s a lady walking there with a couple of dogs, it’s not very nice.”

Seacroft Marsh is an extension of Gibraltar Point, which is designated as a National Nature Reserve.

Mr Miller said there had been problems for a number of years.

“It’s a fantastic area and I would like to use it more for education purposes and recreation, but at the moment you would be scared to do that because of the issues there.

“There are people around leaving not very nice litter. It’s not nice when a young child sees any of this stuff.”

Mr Miller wants people to report any unsavoury activity to the trust so he can build up a database of incidents and pass the information to the police.

“We may find it happens at certain times of the day,” he said.

“I’m hearing all these things anecdotally as I’m working but the police can’t do much about it unless they catch someone in the act.”

Colin Chalmers, voted Britain’s top traffic warden for his dedication to duty by working unpaid after normal hours, has revealed that the secret of his success is to combine his job with his favourite hobby – having sex with strangers.

‘I’m a people person,’ said Colin. ‘I love to meet people and I enjoy watching them, but I also like doing my public duty, so this is one way I can get to combine all that. The beauty of it is that if I’m stopped by the police they just think I’m doing a little extra-curricular ticketing, while in reality I’m ‘parking in a loading zone’.’

Customers and colleagues alike have been unanimous in their praise for Colin’s ‘can do’ attitude. ‘I thought it was a bit cheeky to issue me with a fixed-penalty notice for overstaying the meter immediately after double-teaming my wife with me,’ said Bob Partouse, 43. ‘But you have to admire the guy’s dedication to duty.’

Shirley Sanders, 30, from Surrey, was also cautiously admiring of Chalmers. ‘Yes, my tax disc had been dislodged and wasn’t displayed correctly, but to be fair, that was largely due to his arse rubbing on it while he joined us for a 6-way bukkake session in my Nissan Micra. Still, it’s good to see such a positive work ethic, and I certainly had egg on my face when he told me.’

Council boss Percy Renfrew was also fulsome in his praise. ‘In the last six months Colin has generated over £60,000 in penalty revenue. In fact the only thing that prevented him from breaking the record for the most parking tickets issued was the fact that all the stubs in his ticket book somehow got stuck together. I wish all the lads had the same attitude, but kids today just don’t have the stamina.’

However, Colin’s wife Maureen has responded with shock and surprise at the news of her husband’s night-time shenanigans. ‘This is the first time I’ve heard about this,’ she revealed. ‘I thought Colin was just another over-zealous traffic warden who was determined to enforce the council’s parking regulations to the letter. Instead I discover that he’s spending his time having dirty and sordid liaisons with people he doesn’t even know. I’ve never felt so relieved.’

Back on Tyneside several sites are identified online as dogging sites including under the Redheugh Bridge, North Shields Fish Quay and in Newcastle’s Exhibition Park.

In Northumberland, even locations near to schools are not safe, with extroverts telling each other to meet within 500 yards of Ovington School.

Though his force launched a crackdown against doggers in the picturesque village of Belsay, Northumberland, last November following complaints from residents about amorous anti-social behaviour, Northumbria Police superintendent Mick Paterson said officers were not aware that it was a particular issue across the county.

He said: “However, we would advise people who are considering taking part in this type of activity that any type of inappropriate behaviour is unacceptable, and officers will take action against those responsible,” he said.

“Anyone concerned about this type of activity taking place should report it to police.”

The North has a long recent history of the bizarre sex craze with the sleepy village of Eglingham in Northumberland, a leafy haven for families and tourists, named a “top site for dogging” in 2004.

While in 2005, Carlisle Council ordered the closure of a popular parking spot on the A69 between Carlisle and Newcastle, near the quiet Cumbrian village of Hayton, near Brampton to try to stamp out the practice.

Around the same time, Causey Arch, near Beamish in County Durham, was named by FHM magazine in its guide to the 50 hottest “s**g spots” in Britain.

Three years ago police in Gateshead launched a crackdown against male doggers meeting in the Follingsby Lane area near Wardley.

But, despite the unwanted infamy, some have managed to see the funny side, with British comedy film Dogging: A Love Story, starring Clash of the Titans Luke Treadaway and filming scenes at the Angel of the North, on Newcastle Quayside and at St Mary’s Lighthouse released in 2009.

Property developers have ordered naturists at a popular nudist beach to cover up – after complaints it has become a hot-spot for DOGGING.

Stunning Polgaver Beach in Carlyon Bay, Cornwall, has been a haven for nudists for decades.

But a developer building beach-front homes says the secluded retreat is also being used by randy couples looking for exhibitionist sex.

Bathers have been now been ordered to cover up with a sign which reads: “Beachwear to be worn at all times”.

Commercial Estates Group (CEG), which is building a multi-million pound apartment complex near the beach, has also fenced off much of the dunes and surrounding bushes.

A spokesman for CEG insisted it had to take action after finding two naked men hiding in bushes.

He said: “Our aim is to ensure the beach is properly managed with the safety and wellbeing of visitors at the forefront of our minds.

“This has been done following discussions with the local police to help us deal with this antisocial behaviour.”

Devon and Cornwall Police says it is “monitoring” the beach but said it had not received any specific allegations.

Sergeant Paul Jones said: “It’s difficult to catch anybody in the act, so to speak, because it is so out of the way but we will continue to monitor and assist and advice where we can.”

There is a beauty spot in Stoke-on-Trent that is probably best avoided by those of a squeamish disposition. Why? Let’s just say that should you go down to those woods today, you’re in for a big surprise. This is because it’s a notorious haunt for that most British of outdoor pursuits. No, not Rugger or Rounders. I’m talking about Dogging. If you’ve lived a sheltered life, dogging is the practice of straight couples having public sex with an audience. And usually the audience – which is almost exclusively male – are invited, one after the other – or simultaneously – to have sex or engage in sexual activity with the woman while her male partner looks on. The numbers are subject to change, of course, but a constant is for dogging to take place in remote or semi-remote rural locations.