Yet another suspicious incident along Basingstoke Canal in Woking

After several indecent exposures and plans for community patrols along the towpath, there has been another incident along the Basingstoke Canal in Woking.

Surrey Police are yet to give details of the exact nature of what happened, but say they are treating it as “suspicious”.

It becomes the latest report there following several over more than 18 months, most of which were indecent exposures believed by officers to have been committed by numerous offenders.

Woking Borough Commander Inspector Dave Bentley said: “I would like to reassure the local community that we are taking any matters of community safety extremely seriously.

“I know the local community are aware of a number of suspicious incidents that have been reported along the canal towpath recently and I appreciate that this may be making people feel anxious and unsafe.”

“I want to reassure you that these are all being thoroughly investigated and that we are doing everything we can to identify any potential suspects and ensure they are brought to justice.”

Plans are still being developed to launch a 30-person-strong ‘canal watch’ which will see community volunteers patrolling the towpath at specific times and reporting any suspicious behaviour to police.

As part of the investigation into the latest incident, an appeal has been issued for anyone who was in the Brookwood area of the canal between 5pm and midnight on Saturday (20 March) to come forward.

Officers would also like to hear from anyone who was driving through the areas of Connaught Road, Bagshot Road and Brookwood Lye Road, particularly those with any dashcam footage.

People with information are asked to call 101, quoting PR/45210028973.

You can also call Crimestoppers anonymously via 0800 555 111.