TWO local women have spoken out about the months of psychological torment they endured at the hands of a Thornton man who is being dubbed as Britain's worst phone sex pest.

Allan Snell, a cleaner from Harrison Avenue, Thornton, was finally tracked down following a mammoth nationwide hunt co-ordinated by Fleetwood CID.

The 39-year-old had successfully evaded the law for more than two years using six unregistered mobile phones to make at least 10,000 obscene phone calls to his random victims up and down the country.

He was remanded in custody by Fleetwood Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to causing a public nuisance and is presently in custody awaiting sentence at Preston Crown Court, which is expected to be sometime after March 11.

St Annes businesswoman Wendy Pulman, who was one of Mr Snell's targets, has revealed to The Citizen her horrific experience.

She said: "He began calling and asking questions of an obscene nature and telling me that he had fallen in love with me and had a picture of myself pinned on his wall. I would say he was obsessive.

"I always felt he was local and that he was constantly watching me. I also work from home and this made me feel particularly vulnerable. The police put a tap on my phone and were present when he called on occasions.

"I tried to get him to meet up with me so that the police could catch him, but he said he wouldn't as he felt that he would harm me, which really upset me. He is a horrible man and I am very glad that the police have caught him."

However, Wendy believes the whole affair has left both her and her family severly traumatised. She said: "I am on anti-depressants and have nightmares and panic attacks. I am constantly looking at everyone and am extremely wary of men.

"It affected the whole family in some way, even my children who couldn't understand why I was so upset after the phone calls. I now have a special option on my phone called 'choose to refuse' and this bans any nuisance caller from phoning back.

"I hope Mr Snell's arrest deters other sex pest callers. These people can and will be caught, even if they put 141 in front of their number."

Kelly Wilkinson, a 23-year-old hairdresser at Le' Roy Mark Hair and Beauty salon in Cleveleys, also spoke out about her experience with the phone stalker.

She said: "He stalked me for 18 months and was making life sheer hell for me. It got to the point where he was affecting my job and everything.

"One of the scariest callls was when he threatened to slit my throat by my car. After that I had to get someone to walk me to my car each night.

"I was really shocked to find out he had been living in Thornton all along as he had told me he lived in Southampton, and because he had a slight accent I believed him.

"I would say he has left me scarred for life and I am still very dubious about answering the phone."

DC Ness Greogory of Fleetwood CID commented: "We are very glad we have caught him and an awful lot of hard work went into finding him, including a nationwide search that involved many other forces.

"The victims were all extremely frightened by him and his obscene calls. He left one woman in St Annes too scared to go outside and another woman I visited was physically shaking two hours after recieving one of his calls. He has terrified a lot of people both here and nationwide.

"He was arrested under a public nuisance law, as this carries an unlimited prison sentence."