Police have issued a warning after a man exposed himself to a teenage girl in a park in Witham.

The incident happened at about 5.15pm on Monday (March 22).

It is one of a number of incidents of indecent exposure in the area which police are now treating as linked.

The victim in the latest incident was sitting on a bench at the top of a hill with a friend at Whetmead Nature Reserve when she noticed a man had repeatedly walked back and forth in front of her and up and down the hill beside her.

The man then waited until other people in the park had left the area and then exposed himself to the teenager and her friend.

The victim and her friend ran from the area and, as they did so, the man hid from them in a bush.

He is described as white, about 5ft 10ins tall, with fluffy dark brown hair in a ‘curtains’-type style.

He was wearing a black t-shirt with no visible logos and blue skinny jeans.

Police are now appealing for information from anyone who was in the area at the time who may have seen a man matching the description.

They believe there were a number of dog walkers in the area immediately before the incident took place.

DS Mick Carrington of Braintree CID, said: “We of course understand these incidents will be concerning for our community and we are treating them very seriously.

“We have high visibility patrols taking place in the area but we would urge members of the public to vigilant and we would ask parents not to allow their children to go to the area alone.”

Two of the incidents we are linking took place on Wednesday March 10 and Friday March 12.

At about 4pm on March 10, three girls reported walking in a green area just off Laurence Avenue between Maldon Road and Pattison Close when a man exposed himself.

The man in that incident is described as white, slim, approximately 20-years-old with medium-length dark brown hair and wearing a blue jacket, grey trousers, and brown shoes.

Two days later, a woman in her 30s was walking her dog in the Maldon Road area at around 10am when she reported a man exposing himself.

Anyone with information which they believe will help our investigation should call us on 101 quoting crime reference number 42/44328/21 or cite incident 1046 of 22 March.