A SCOOTER-riding sex pest indecently exposed himself to five women.

Shane Whitaker, 19, of Talbot Street, Colne, rode around the town on his scooter, and exposed himself to lone women.

He admitted five counts of the crime at Burnley Magistrates' Court.

Police said Whitaker first struck in May last year, when he flashed at women in two separate incidents in Trawden.

Officers said they interviewed Whitaker, along with a number of other young men in the area at the time, but could not prove he was responsible.

Police said they believed the teen curbed his behaviour after the police intervened, but he began targeting women again last month.

In one incident, in Skipton Road, Colne, he exposed himself and performed an indecent act towards a postwoman who was on her early-morning round.

And on 15 July, police said he rode next to a woman jogging in Castle Road, flashed and again performed an indecent act. When his victim ignored him, he drove further up the road and did the same again.

PC Andy Baldwin said community beat managers had worked hard to stop Whitaker.

He said: "Myself and the Trawden community beat manager PC Mark Whitehead did a lot of work on this when reports came in last year.

"Whitaker was one of the people we brought in for questioning, but he was one of a number of suspects and we couldn't pin him down then.

"When we started to get reports again, we investigated him again.

"Thankfully, one of the victims managed to memorise most of his registration number, and she was only one digit out so we knew then that we had him.

"It's very important that victims of flashers report the crime to the police, because offenders like this can quickly descend into more serious sex crime and the more information we have about these people, the easier it is for us to catch them before they do any more harm."

Whitaker is currently awaiting sentence, but PC Baldwin said it was likely that, at the least, he would be ordered to sign the sex offenders register.