A man who breached a strict court order by speaking to three young girls while performing an indecent act in his car has been sent to jail.

Max Simpkins, 29, of Eastwood End, Wimblington, near March, was caught on CCTV trying to engage the girls, aged eight and nine, in conversation.

A Cambs Police spokesperson explained that he had pulled up alongside them in his blue Mini Cooper in a town in Norfolk.

The spokesperson said: “The scared girls carried on walking home and told their parents who contacted police.”

Simpkins pleaded guilty to breaching a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) by having unsupervised contact with a child under 18. He was jailed for two years and six months at Cambridge Crown Court on Friday (4 July).

DC Sonia Kauser said: “Thankfully the CCTV footage not only showed us what Simpkins was doing, it recorded his voice and the words he used when trying to engage the girls.

“The children did all the right things and continued walking together, ignoring him, and returning home, telling their parents immediately what had happened.

“Simpkins offended out of county assuming he wouldn’t be apprehended, but it shows how committed we are in managing sex offenders regardless of where the offence took place. I am pleased that he is now behind bars.”