A man lay in wait in parked vehicles so he could expose himself to passing girls, a court heard.

Warren Page, 41, of Gore Park Road, Eastbourne, performed an indecent act as the teenage girls walked past.

Graham Thorn, prosecuting, told Crawley magistrates yesterday that Page drove off laughing from St Anne's Road, Eastbourne, when the girls saw what he was doing.

But one of them stored the car's registration number in her mobile phone and reported the incident to police.

Mr Thorn said Page was then twice caught performing the act in a van on a road in East Grinstead.

Deputy District Judge Barbara Barnes yesterday sentenced Page, who pleaded guilty to three counts of indecent exposure, committed over the past 11 months, to a three-year community rehabilitation order.

He was also told he must attend a sex offenders' project but insisted he was not being let off lightly.

She said: "Attendance at the project is not a soft option."

Page, who has previous convictions for indecent exposure, was accompanied in court by his live-in girlfriend.

Julian Kwolek, defending, said that his client was aware he had a problem.

He said: "Mr Page denies he is beyond help and feels this is shown by the amount of time separating the incidents."