A man has been arrested after he allegedly took inappropriate photographs of a young woman in Festival Place, according to reports.

The man was spotted by a schoolboy taking photos of a woman who was browsing a market stall outside Build A Bear on the ground floor of the shopping centre with her boyfriend.

The schoolboy alerted the woman and the man was confronted before being arrested, according to their accounts. 

Hampshire Constabulary and Festival Place have been contacted for comment. 

The woman has paid tribute to the teenager, praising his courage in coming to tell her.
Writing to Facebook, she said: "Thank you so much to the young boy who got the courage to come up and tell me, without him this vile pervert would still be getting away with it.

"He should be very proud of himself, and imagine what he may have prevented."

She also claimed that she found photos and videos of other woman on the phone.

"We didn’t know what else to do so called the police because I felt so violated. I guess it’s in the police hands now on what happens to him."

The mother of the teenager has also said she is "so proud" of her son for alerting the woman.

"He was waiting in Festival Place for his friend and noticed an older man stop and start taking pictures of a young woman.

"My son is super awkward when it comes to talking to people, but he knew what he had seen was wrong and gross so he watched a minute or so longer to make sure he was correct and went and informed the couple of what he had seen.

"The couple then confronted the man and made him remove the pictures from his phone.

"This is such a gross thing to have happened but I'm so proud that my son said something despite how socially awkward he is."