A perverted pensioner has been given a sexual offences prevention order after being caught taking pictures of, and making rude gestures at, teenage girls.

South Easy Surrey Magistrates Court heard on Friday, January 6, that Thomas Doran, 78, repeatedly made obscene gestures at girls passing his home in Epsom.

He was also accused of hiding behind trees in a park to watch 13 and 14-year-old girls, taking pictures of them, blowing them kisses and trying to entice them to come over to him.

The documented offences started in 2010 and in July 2011 a plastic ball and racket and a bowl of sweets was spotted in his flat, helping to trigger police into taking action to protect youngsters from him.

Doran who used a walking stick to get into court and spoke only to confirm his name and address had a previous caution for sexual assault dating back to 2002.

After a three hour hearing, magistrates approved the order to ‘protect the public from serious sexual harm from the defendant’.

The order prevents him from communicating with anyone under the age of 16, either electronically or face-to-face, loitering in parks or outside schools, and taking pictures or videos of youngsters.

His defence solicitor argued that the restrictions should only apply to girls but magistrates decided it should cover both sexes, and any contact must be agreed in advance with the police.

A spokesman for Surrey Police said: "Surrey Police's dedicated Public Protection Unit works with local neighbourhood officers to monitor and manage the behaviour of Registered Sex Offenders, and their adherence to any conditions set by Sexual Offences Prevention Orders (SOPO).

Protecting the residents of Surrey is the paramount concern of Surrey Police and offenders who breach SOPO conditions will be brought before the courts.

We also work closely with the Probation Service, Prison Service and other agencies to manage any risk posed to the public by sexual and violent offenders who have been released from prison on license or are Registered Sex Offenders through MAPPA (Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements)."

In their closing statement magistrates said: “The court accepts that Mr Doran is a qualifying offender and has acted in such a way to give reasonable cause to believe this order should be made.”

Doran was also ordered to pay costs of £1434.