BLACKPOOL police are encouraging people to report sex crimes faster after a troupe of cub scouts were 'flashed' on St Annes beach.

The incident occurred as more than thirty cubs - aged 7 to 11 years - gathered close to the resort's pier for a scouting exercise with troupe leaders and parents at around 6.30pm on Wednesday, June 16.

A man - aged between 60 to 70 years - was stood watching under the pier. As the children got closer he exposed himself and performed a lewd act before being chased away by the supervising adults.

The incident, reported the following day, is one of several similar crimes across the Fylde coast in recent months.

A Blackpool police spokesman said: "The sooner we are notified of these incidents, the better we can get on with locating the individual responsible.

"Even a report which comes 24 hours after an incident took place is quite late. We understand it is often quite a shock and very embarrassing to be involved in these kind of situations.

"This is especially the case if young children are involved as adults and parents will want to play it down and not create unnecessary fuss in front of youngsters.

"It may be our only chance to catch this type of offender," added the spokesman.

"Before they go to ground again or progress onto worse crimes."

Officers working on the separate investigations are now in the process of recovering CCTV footage from areas around the Sandcastle, in Harrowside and Foxhall in an attempt to determine the identities of the offenders involved.