One of the country's most senior RAF officers has been suspended after neighbours complained to police that they had seen him naked in his garden.

Air Marshal Andrew Turner, 54, sent a letter to the family last week apologising for an incident he said caused 'absolutely unintentional upset'.

Simon Herbert, also 54, told the Daily Mail that the sight of his neighbour nude in the paddock of his £1.5million thatched cottage had left him 'astonished'.

One source told The Sun: 'Turner's neighbour saw him watching him and his family from his garden. He was on his own land but he was naked. He bared his backside at Simon.'

His partner Leslie Stevens, 52, and her 18-year-old daughter were also left 'really upset'.

Mr Herbert said he was initially concerned for his neighbour's wellbeing. But after confronting Mr Turner in Cane End, Oxfordshire, he complained to Thames Valley Police, triggering an investigation.

As the RAF's 'Deputy Commander Capability', Mr Turner is essentially a deputy head of the RAF. A former special forces commander, he is in charge of making sure the service 'can deliver air and space power for the nation and project power and influence around the world'. He is one of just two Air Marshals standing in rank just below Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston.

Mr Turner is thought to have been suspended two weeks ago after he informed his boss of the probe. Station commanders were told he 'stepped back from duty due to a personal matter'.