A STREAKER who tried to disrupt the Turner Prize announcement has been released on bail, police said tonight.

As photographer Mario Testino was about to call out sculptor Martin Boyce’s name live on Channel 4, a stocky middle-aged man pulled off his clothes, jumped over photographers and launched himself onto the stage dressed in a pink tutu.

On the man’s bare belly were written the words ‘STUDY THIS’ in black.

The man was quickly dragged away by security guards, while saying "thank you, thank you".

The would-be streak barely registered on Monday night’s TV coverage.

However, police were called to the awards venue, the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, in Gateshead, and arrested a 46-year-old man from the Liverpool area on suspicion of disorderly conduct.

A Northumbria Police spokesman said the man had since been released. He is due to answer bail early in the new year.

This is just the second time the Turner Prize, awarded each year to a British artist under 50, has been held outside London; the event having visited the Tate Liverpool in 2007.

However, the streaking incident is not thought to have damaged the North-East’s chances of hosting the prize again, with organisers impressed 120,000 people have already visited the show.

The prize is now due to be held outside London every other year, including in Londonderry during its UK City of Culture year in 2013.

The Turner Prize exhibition is open daily from 10am to 6pm until Sunday, January 8, except Tuesdays when the Baltic is open from 10.30am to 6pm. Entry is free.