LEISURE centre staff are on the alert after a pervert tried to take pictures of two girls in the changing rooms.

The girls, aged 11 and 14, were changing after swimming at The Olympiad, Chippenham, when they saw a hand holding a camera appear underneath the cubicle divider.

Their description of the suspect as a short, stocky black man aged between 30 to 35 matches that of a man who had been reported trying to take pictures in the changing rooms on a previous occasion.

Olympiad staff have been warned to keep a lookout for the man, and managers are investigating ways to help prevent another incident.

"Of course we take this very seriously," said North Wiltshire Leisure Ltd's head of operations Gary Milne.

"We are looking at our procedures to work out how we can improve things. We have briefed all staff and urged them to be vigilant. If he came in again, this man would be stopped."

A family friend said the girls, who live in Chippenham, were in the Olympiad's family changing room following a Malmesbury Swimming Club event on March 16 when the incident happened.

They saw a hand come underneath the cubicle divider, holding a camera.

They shouted at the man but he did not go away and one of the girls knelt down to peer under the divider. Then the man left the changing room and disappeared.

The girls phoned their parents, and Olympiad staff immediately called the police.

PC Karen Boshier, from Chippenham police station, took statements and a description of the man the girls had seen. They said he had very short hair and was wearing a blue-green jacket.

A man fitting the same description had been reported trying to take pictures in the changing rooms in the previous week.

The family friend said: "Of course I am very concerned about this. I have a son myself and I want the Olympiad to be safe - and right now it's not.

"People want to be able to organise events and for children to take part. You don't want to have to follow your children around everywhere."

He suggested the sports centre should put grills under the cubicle partitions but Mr Milne said this approach would not be helpful.

"It is very difficult in a public building of this type to have absolute security," he said.

The gaps beneath the partitions are needed for cleaning, and even if grills were put at the bottom he said it was possible someone could stick a camera over the top.

Many of the activities for children at the Olympiad are not run by the leisure centre. Instead groups and clubs hire out the facilities to run events.

Mr Milne said he would be discussing security with groups in the light of the incident, and would recommend they put an adult on patrol around the changing areas.

Olympiad managers are also working on a plan to direct one of the centre's CCTV cameras on the main door into the changing area to keep a check on people entering and leaving.

Rules on photography in general are very strict and anyone wishing to use any sort of camera in the leisure centre has to register with reception staff.

But Mr Milne admitted they faced a challenge because cameras can be very small and easily hidden - including cameras fitted into mobile phones.

Barbara Maidment, secretary of the Malmesbury Swimming Club, said: "I was aware this had happened. Club coach Lorraine Weeks is dealing with the situation."