A woman has described her shocking ordeal after a man hiding in bushes asked her to watch him masturbate.

Laura Hughes was walking her dog Luna near Lydiard Park on January 6 when the man threatened to expose himself.

She has waived her right to anonymity in an interview with the Adver to speak out about the heinous incident and condemn what she described as some victim blaming comments on social media.

Recounting the experience, the civil servant had just left her home and was walking along the footpath on Hook Street, just before 6.45am, when the incident happened.

Laura said: “I was walking along the footpath on Hook Street and I heard this voice in the trees between the road and path.

“This man said: ‘Can you just wait a minute and can you watch me?’

“I realised then that he was threatening to masturbate and I said: ‘No you are a weirdo.’"

She said the man said “watch me” several times, which was when the police was called.

Another walker came along and shone his headtorch into the bushes.

Whilst Laura was on the phone with officers, the suspect emerged from the bushes and ran away.

“I checked my CCTV and you can see him walking past my house, four minutes before I left. So he must have been in the bushes for four minutes,” she said.

The 40-year-old said she was doing okay after the shocking ordeal, but was upset by the number of negative comments left on Facebook.

One of the many comments questioned: “Why is she walking her dog in the dark.”

Responding, Laura said: “The question shouldn’t be why she is walking her dog in the dark, it should be why is there a man in the bushes hiding.

“I used to work on sex crimes, I know about police’s attitudes towards sex crimes and the public’s attitudes towards sex crimes.

“I knew about victim blaming, but I hadn’t experienced myself.

“It’s a shame then when something like that happens some people’s reaction is to blame the victim rather than blaming the offender.”

The civil servant has warned women walking to be extra vigilant when walking down Hook Street.

A spokesperson for Wiltshire Police earlier said: “Officers are investigating a report of a man threatening to indecently expose himself in a Swindon park.

“A woman in her 40s was walking her dog on her own around 6.45am in Lydiard Park on Friday, January 6 when she was stopped by a man hiding in the bushes.

“The man is described as wearing a loose grey/blue jacket.

“We would urge anyone walking in the area to be extra vigilant and if they see anything suspicious to call us 999 or on 101.”