A hospital caretaker with a foot fetish telephoned women advertising in Horse and Hound magazine and asked them about their feet, a court heard.

Richard William Cove, 26, pleaded guilty to causing a public nuisance by making 63 calls to 19 women, some teenagers.

Michael Joyce, prosecuting, said Cove admitted to police he had made thousands of calls.

He said: "He told them there was nothing sexual in his actions and that he got no sexual gratification. He said he had been 'into' feet since he was quite small."

The court heard Cove, of Cedar Avenue, Worthing, sometimes disguised his voice and gave a false name, Michael Foot.

Mr Joyce said Cove would ask the women their shoe size, if their feet gave them trouble and even if they smelled.

He said Cove would scout the advertising pages of the equestrian and hunting magazine looking for women selling horses.

He would phone them and, while pretending to be interested in making a purchase, would steer the conversation to their feet.

Mr Joyce said while some victims had been able to laugh the experience off, others had felt distressed and frightened.

Selwyn Shapiro, defending, said his client had learning difficulties and had suffered a traumatic family loss at an early age.

He said: "He now lives with his mother and the problems of his early life, I would say, may have been a trigger for his actions."

District Judge Jan Jellema sentenced Cove to 80 hours' community service at Wellingborough Magistrates Court yesterday.

He said: "The report conclusion is simply you are a foot fetishist. Of course, it is the way that you chose to pursue that fetish that has seen you brought before a criminal court."

Cove was unavailable for comment yesterday.

Speaking from their home, his mother, Kathleen, said: "He's 26 and old enough to deal with it himself."