The stretch of canal in Brownhills where the incident happened is generally quite busy.

Worrying news reaches me of an indecent exposure incident on the canal in Brownhills last Wednesday night (23rd July 2014), when a lady cycling on the towpath between the Pier Street pedestrian Bridge (near Tesco) and Catshill Junction witnessed a naked man on the far side of the canal near the Silver Court Gardens site.

The man is described as about 5 feet 11 inches tall, white, with brown, shoulder-length scruffy hair. He looked to be in his late fourties or early fifties, and possibly had facial hair.

The lady reports that the man was walking naked and when he saw her, began performing a lewd act.

The area was not quiet at the time, and there were anglers and a bunch of kids around.

Please be careful if you’re out and about in the area alone; even in the middle of the day parts of Brownhills can be very isolated, so take care where you go alone, particularly in light of the incident up on the canal near Chase Road a few weeks ago.

If you, or your children are subject to anything like this, please do contact the police. These types of offences can escalate, and the man needs to be caught before he does more serious harm.

West Midlands Police issued the following statement:

Police urge vigilance following Brownhills indecent exposure

A member of the public reported seeing a naked man on the canal towpath off Silver Street just before 10pm last night (Wednesday 23rd July 2014).

Officers attended the location but no-one was found.

Regards,
Deb Edmonds.

They are urging anyone who falls victim to an indecent exposure to call 999 immediately.

It’s a lovely spot, but take care if you’re on your own. Tell your kids to be wary, too.

It’s worth repeating the advice about flashing incidents and suchlike issued by West Midlands Police last year:

Police Constable Richard Jackson, from Walsall Police, said: ‘Although this type of offence is rare, there are many parks and open spaces on the east side of Walsall that have historically attracted offenders.

‘They usually target women, often when they are alone in parks, canals or country tracks.

‘We take any such offences very seriously and saw five people arrested in 2012 when we set up an operation to reduce this kind of offending.’

Walsall Police have issued the following guidelines for the public if an offence occurs.

• Please phone 999 immediately! The Walsall Police plan involves an immediate response for officers to attend and try to capture the offender. Please do not wait until you get home.
• Try and get a good description of the offender, including detail of clothing. This is very valuable to police, and if the offender is in a vehicle, the registration number is also extremely important to help identify them. The make and model is also very useful.
• Details of where the offender was last seen, or last seen heading to is very valuable in assisting police to locate them quickly.
• Never put yourself at further risk to obtain these details, but if have seen them please commit them to memory, or write them down if you can. This information can then be passed straight out to officers via police radio to ensure that a meaningful search can take place straight away.

For advice on staying safe when out, visit: www.safer-streets.org

Any information? lease call Walsall Police on 101 or 0345 113 5000. You can also speak to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.