Police have stepped up patrols in the Broomhill area of Ipswich after a number of incidents in the area.

Yesterday, police issued an appeal for witnesses to two instances where a man committed an obscene act in a bush in Broomhill Park on Thursday last week, before a teenager exposed himself and committed a lewd act in front of a 58-year-old man on Sunday evening.

The acts are the latest in a series of disturbing encounters after an 11-year-old girl was approached by a man in the woods behind the library in Sherrington Road earlier this month.

In June, a man was charged for rape and assault by penetration after a 17-year-old girl reported being raped having encountered a man in Bramford Road, before being led to Sherrington Road.

Police officers and community groups are now keen to curb the behaviour.

Sergeant Louisa Masterson from the Ipswich Central Safer Neighbourhood Team, said: “I would like to reassure local residents that we are carrying out additional patrols in the area, specifically targeting early evenings when the two lewd acts took place.

“Enquiries are ongoing and we are looking at CCTV and have liaised with the local Neighbourhood Watch.”

An Ipswich Borough Council spokesman added that they were assisting officers in their investigations, as well as continuing its own park patrols.

However, members of the Friends of Broomhill Library and the Broomhill Pool Trust, which helps maintain the park areas have made it clear lewd behaviour will not be tolerated.

Garath Jones, chairman of the Friends of Broomhill Library, said: “Our concerns are that we don’t want this becoming a trend in the area.

“We are working hard to bring the area back together and make Broomhill a community hub.

“It’s deplorable this kind of behaviour and we don’t expect it in Broomhill.”

Anyone with information about the latest incidents should contact Suffolk police on 101.