Appeal over naked man seen in Bristol

Detectives are investigating and neighbourhood police teams are targeting patrols following reports of a naked man approaching women in the Purdown area of Bristol.

The most recent incident was reported just after 5pm on Tuesday 21 October, when a man in his sixties reporting seeing a naked man emerging from the woods near Sir Johns Lane. He said on seeing him the man ran back into the woods, and described him as older than 30 and white with dark hair and a stubbly beard.

Previously a woman reported being approached by a naked man in a field near Priory Hospital, at about 1pm on Friday 17 October. In an online report the next day she described him as being in his forties or early fifties with short greying brown hair and a small beard. He was between 5ft 11 and 6ft 3ins tall and “skinny”.

Two similar reports, made in July and September, were investigated with no suspect identified. In each case a similarly described man approached women.

Officers are aware of social media posts suggesting other incidents may have happened but not been reported to police.

We’d always encourage you to report any such incidents as soon as you feel safe to do so. Call 999 if it’s just happened and the suspect could still be in the area, otherwise ring 101.

If this has happened to you, or if you have any information which could help to identify the man, we’d like to hear from you.