An e-fit of a man has been released after a series of exposures in Witham.

Four teenage girls were walking down Blackwater Lane, towards Whetmead Nature Reserve, in Witham at around 3.45pm on Wednesday, March 31 when they saw a man following them.

He then turned and looked at them over his shoulder, before crossing over Blackwater Lane in front of the girls and exposing himself.

The victims ran away from the man, who is described as white, roughly between 5ft 7ins and 5ft 8ins tall, of slim build, with dark wavy or slightly curly hair which was greasy.

He was wearing a black long-sleeved top, which may have had a hood and possibly had a white logo on the front chest area.

He was also wearing dark-colored jogging bottoms and trainers.

The man ran off towards Maldon Road in the direction of Saul’s Bridge Close and was last seen at the junction of these two roads.

Det Con Deb Forsythe, of Braintree CID, said: “We believe that the man exposing himself must live close to the area, as he clearly has local knowledge given the routes he uses and disappears a short time after the events.

“We believe the key to finding and arresting this individual lies with the public and would ask anyone who has any knowledge as to who this person is, to contact police as a matter of urgency.

“We 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.”

Anyone with information that they believe will help the police investigation should call 101, quoting incident 904 of March 31.

Essex Police think this incident is related to other exposures on March 10 and 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. He was 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.

People with information on those incidents should also call 101, quoting crime reference number 42/44328/21 or incident number 1046 of March 22.