A MUM has spoken of her horror after a man exposed himself to her while she was walking home with her young son.

The 33-year-old, who did not want to be named, was walking along a footpath between Southernhay and Osborne Road, Basildon, after dropping her daughter off at nursery. Her son was asleep in his pushchair.

She noticed a man had pulled his pants down and was exposing himself. He shouted at her before fleeing the scene.

The incident took place at about midday in Monday.

The mother-of-two, from Basildon, said: “He walked past me while I was talking to a mum from the school.

“He then must have run ahead of me because when I got to the top of the hill he was just standing there with his pants down.

“He was quite far away and was shouting something.

“I’m a grown woman and it freaked me out, so I can’t imagine how a young girl would feel.

“I’m glad my son was asleep in the buggy. He would have had a right shock.

“A nice man and woman walked past just after and were really kind. They saw him running off but didn’t realise what he had done until they saw me and I told them.

“They walked me to the end of the path until I got to Osborne Road, so thankyou to them.”

She has urged parents to be vigilant, fearing the man may target schoolchildren using the secluded footpath.

She said: “That path has loads of schoolkids walking up it alone.

“Apparently it’s happened before in the same place.

“It is a secluded path and I shouldn’t walk through there really, but it cuts the journey down by about 10 to 15 minutes. I’ll walk the long way round from now on though.

“If anybody has children or you walk that way alone please be aware.”

She said she reported the incident to police once she arrived home.

The man was wearing dark blue bottoms, a navy blue duffel coat with a white polo shirt underneath. He had short, brown hair and is believed to be around 19-years-old.

Anyone with information about the incident can call Essex Police on 101.