Passengers at Toulouse-Matabiau, the city's main station, were treated to a bizarre spectacle at around 6am on Wednesday morning when a 36-year-old man was seen running through the building unclothed.

At first railway police suspected a crime of a sexual nature when they saw the unclad man jump on a woman running along the station, before the man explained that he had in fact been robbed.

(Toulouse trains station, where the naked chase took place. Photo: Marius Toudoire/Wikicommons

“The woman who you are letting go is a prostitute who took my bag, my papers!” the man told police, according to local paper Charente Libre.

The man explained that he had come from a nearby hotel where a prostitute had made off with his bag, which contained his ID papers and more €500.

The 33-year-old prostitute, who is from Madagascar, was found to be in possession of the stolen bag and was taken into police custody.