Truants caught at Boobs on Bikes parade

A group of New Zealand school boys who snuck off to watch topless men and women parade on motorbikes, have been busted after appearing on the front page of a newspaper enjoying the spectacle.

The students from Shirley Boys' High School in Christchurch have been given detentions for truancy after appearing on the front page of The Press, the newspaper reported.

Six of the boys appeared clearly on the newspaper, dressed in school uniforms and cheering on the parade.

The event, called Boobs on Bikes, is held in various New Zealand cities during the year to promote a sex expo.

Bare-chested women and men take part in the parade, driving slowly around on motorcycles.

The boys did not miss any classes, but had used their lunch passes to head to the parade, rather than to go home for lunch.

"It was worth it," the paper quoted Year 12 student James Hardy as saying.

"It was funny as."

But the school was not amused, initially asking that the kids be expelled, but later downgrading the punishment to after-school detentions.

"I think we have had enough publicity about that," was all a representative from the school said when contacted by AAP.

But James' grandmother has publicly defended her grandson.

"They were not taking drugs or robbing banks," Kathy Hardy told a radio station.