Stevenage MP, Kevin Bonavia, has reached out to members of the community via Facebook to tackle safety concerns in the town centre.

In the statement, he said: “I am deeply concerned to have read so many reports on this group and via other channels of women, children and families facing threatening experiences in our town centre and parks.

“It’s absolutely disgraceful that anyone should be made to feel so unsafe they can’t take their kids down the park or pick up their shopping.”

The MP will conduct an ‘urgent’ meeting with the Chief Inspector of Stevenage police, Graeme Walsingham, to ask for an update regarding how many reports have been logged and what action is being taken to combat this.

The post has received significant engagement from Facebook users.

One user said: “Thank you Kevin, our streets need to be safe, and we should feel safe for ourselves and our families. I hope you can do something regarding this.”

Whilst another said: “You are an MP you need to speak up for residents. People are feeling scared, anxious and worried about walking around alone or with children.”

A Herts police spokesperson: "Whilst we are aware of the concerns that have been raised by a handful of local residents regarding suspicious male activity in the town centre and local parks, to date we have only received a couple of reports relating to this.

"We would therefore urge people to report any concerns directly to us rather than sharing on social media.

"Using social media to share this type of unconfirmed information often only serves to increase fear and tension and can undermine any police response . We need information to come directly to us so we can quickly build up an accurate picture of any perceived issues and take swift appropriate action.

"We also want to reassure residents that we will continue to monitor the situation and are conducting regular patrols in the town centre and public spaces.

"We are also in regular contact with our partners, including Stevenage Borough Council and local ‘contingency’ hotels to address any issues that arise."

MP Bonavia urges members of the community that are concerned to contact the Stevenage police, and you can reach him via his e-mail at kevin.bonavia.mp@parliament.uk