Revealed: the naked civil servant

The unsuspecting civil servant posted nude on the internet by a woman he says he barely knows... in an attempt to persuade him to marry her... has been identified as a 24-year-old civil servant.

Today Serious Fraud Office employee Stephen McPherson told of his anger and humiliation after being dubbed the naked civil servant and having his full-frontal picture seen around the world.

The 24-year-old law clerk from Grays in Essex said he barely knew "big-boned" Sarah Jay, but said she had developed an infatuation with him before posting the photograph, taken at a drunken strip-poker game.

Mr McPherson has been inundated with offers to appear on television shows, including Richard and Judy. The bizarre Valentine's Day prank by Miss Jay, 23, who later claimed to have dated him for seven years, was on a site entitled "Tell him to marry me". It showed a grinning Mr McPherson, son of an Essex magistrate, in all his glory.

She wrote: "This is Stephen, the man I want to marry. The problem is that he doesn't quite agree so I've put his picture on the Net and am asking you to help persuade him to say Yes.

"Until he does, this picture is here to stay. I love him. I want him. Please help me out."

Within hours the site was being replicated around the world, making London's naked civil servant, briefly, one of the internet's most popular attractions before the weight of hits crashed the site.

While those who saw the site say it is not immediately apparent exactly why Miss Jay, from Birmingham, would go to such measures to snare him, a computer-generated figleaf was later added to hide his modesty.

Mr McPherson told the Evening Standard: "I am embarrassed and humiliated. The picture was taken at one of those drunken strip-poker games at a party and I think it is the only one she has. I've only been out for the odd drink with her and don't want a relationship with her. There is no romantic entanglement at all."

He described how the pair met a mutual colleague in the civil service and went out twice.

"The next thing I knew, there's a picture of me stark naked on the internet and I have had 150 emails sent to me from places like Singapore, USA and Australia telling me to put some clothes on, and 'Was it cold when the picture was taken?'."

He added: "I thought we were just friends. I haven't spoken to her since but I've calmed down a bit. If you had seen me last week, I was very angry, humiliated and outraged. She's a nice girl with an outrageous personality - not really my type."

Mr McPherson described Sarah as a bubbly blonde, 5ft 8in, big-boned and a tomboy. He added: "She must have been trying to woo me but it seems a funny way to go about it.

"If I'm looking for love, it won't be on the internet. I told my mum and she found it funny but was a bit bemused."

However Mr McPherson's bosses at the SFO have reassured him by saying it is "nothing to do with his work" and he will not face any disciplinary action for his embarrassing pose.