People are being urged to be cautious after a man exposed himself to a teenage girl in a park in Witham, with police linking it to a number of similar incidents in the area.

The incident occurred at around 5.15pm on Monday, March 22, when the victim was sitting on a bench with a friend at Whetmead Nature Reserve.

The teenage girl noticed a man had repeatedly walked back and fourth 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 before exposing himself to the teenager and her friend.

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

The man has been described as being white, about 5ft 10ins tall, with fluffy dark hair in 'curtains'-typed style.

Detective Sergeant 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 be vigilant and we would ask parents not to allow their children to go to the area alone.”

Two other incidents that Essex Police are linking with this took place on Wednesday, March 10 and Friday, March 12.

At around 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 any information about any incident should call 101 quoting crime reference number 42/44328/21 or cite incident 1046 of 22 March.