A young girl has been left “frightened and shaken” after a man took photos of her while she walking to school in Welwyn Garden City earlier this week. 

Between around 8.15am and 8.30am on Wednesday a 10-year-old girl was walking along Ludwick Way when an unknown man approached and took photographs of her. 

The suspect is described as a short, Black man with some facial hair on his chin. He was wearing a black jacket, a black hoody, dark blue or black jeans and black Nike trainers. 

“At no point did the man attempt to touch or grab the girl but she was understandably left frightened and shaken by what happened,” said Detective Sergeant Sam Casey, from the Welwyn Hatfield Local Crime Unit. 

“We are carrying out extensive enquiries to find the suspect and I would like any witnesses or anyone with information to get in touch.  

“If you have a doorbell camera or were driving through the area at the time and have a dash cam fitted to your vehicle, I urge you to please check it and contact me if you spot something.” 

Welwyn Hatfield Chief Inspector, Kash Hussain, added: “I appreciate this news will be concerning to the public but please be assured that my team are working hard to investigate this. We have also increased patrols in the area to provide further reassurance.” 

If you have any information, call the non-emergency number 101 or email samantha.casey@herts.police.uk, quoting crime reference 41/95002/22. 

You can also report any information online at herts.police.uk/report, or speak to an operator via online web chat at herts.police.uk/contact. 

Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, or online at crimestoppers-uk.org.