A shopper says he had his foot run over after trying to stop a man allegedly taking pictures up the skirts of schoolgirls.

Stephen Ling said he witnessed the entire ordeal while out shopping for his upcoming holiday.

The 30-year-old was on the escalators to the upper floor at Primark, in Gravesend, when he says he saw a man upskirting two girls in front of him.

Stephen, from Northfleet, confronted and tried to detain him at the store, but he managed to escape.

He said: "The poor girls did not seem to notice it. This is what's so horrific about it. It's just disgusting behaviour."

The dad-of-five chased the man all the way to the nearby St George's car park, where he waited at the exit in the hope of catching the man.

He added: "I stood in his way but he sped up towards me, and my ankle was crushed by his car as I was trying to get out of the way. I then reported everything to police, together with the girls' mum."

Police confirmed that officers were called at 3.45pm on April 28 to a report of alleged upskirting offences at Gravesend's Primark.

At 7.30pm that day, police said they arrested a 49-year-old man at an address in Tonbridge. He was bailed until May 27, pending further investigation.

A spokesman for Primark said: "The safety of our colleagues and customers in our stores is our number one priority.

"We are aware of an alleged incident in our Gravesend store, but have not been contacted by the police or any alleged victims on the matter.

"We take these matters very seriously, so we encourage the customer to contact us so we can investigate this incident further."

Stephen said his only regret was not being able to catch the man immediately.

He said: "I've got daughters and stepdaughters myself, and I'd hope that someone would do the same as I did if they were put in that same situation – to try to intervene and stop him.

"I just regret not being able to stop him then and there because what is he going to do with these images? What has he done before?

"I feel sorry for those young girls. They should have freedom and feel safe wherever they go. "And what I've seen it's going to stay in my head for a long time. I haven't stopped thinking about it."