Police are hunting man who sexually assaulted a girl and exposed himself to another.

A man sexually assaulted a girl crossing the bridge over the River Brain, off Bramble Road, in Witham, at about 3.30pm on Monday.

The girl fought the man off and ran away, according to Essex Police.

The suspect was intoxicated, white, in his late 20s to early 30s, about 5ft 6in, chubby, and wearing a dark tracksuit and black Nike 720 trainers.

Just over an hour later, a man fitting the same description exposed himself to a girl walking along Highfields Road towards the railway station.

Detective Sergeant Jamie Stirland said: “We know these incidents will be concerning but I want to reassure you that incidents like this are rare.

“We have detectives working to identify the man involved and extra patrols taking place in these areas.

“I need anyone who may have seen this man, has CCTV or dash cam footage, or any other information to come forward to us.

“The information you have could be really important to identifying and locating him.”

If you have information, call 101, quoting the crime reference number 42/27177/21, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.