A schoolboy has been praised for stepping in after he spotted a man allegedly taking inappropriate photos of a woman in Festival Place.

The youngster, who was described as "super awkward when it comes to talking to people", alerted the woman that he had seen someone taking photographs of her.

He has been praised by the victim and that "he should be very proud of himself".

According to reports, a man has been arrested after he was allegedly caught taking inappropriate images of a woman.

The woman, who was browsing a stall outside Build A Bear at Festival Place, was approached by a schoolboy who said he saw the man taking photos of her.

The man was confronted and the police were called.

Hampshire Constabulary and Festival Place have been contacted for comment. 

Now, people have paid tribute to the schoolboy for speaking up.

Writing to Facebook, the victim 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."

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."

Meanwhile, dozens of people paid tribute to him on social media.

"As someone who is socaill awkward myself, he did such an amazing and brave job to stand up for something that needed to be done," one said.

"Such a brave young man," another added, whilst a third wrote: "Excellent! So important to take the right action and not just think the usual 'nothing to do with me'."