Residents of a Somerset village have found themselves haunted by a ‘gimp man’ causing distress to inhabitants. The man, who had already been arrested twice before on similar offences, was taken into custody again after a woman spotted him while driving through Bleadon, Weston-super-Mare at night. The unnamed woman described the man as being dressed in an all black latex suit with white crosses over his eyes as he was “crawling and writhing” on the ground. Talking to a local newspaper, the woman said: “As soon as I got over the first railway bridge, I noticed something on the ground which I thought was a badger. “As I got closer I could see it wasn’t, but in fact a man with a mask on, who was crawling and writhing on the ground.” According to Metro, the “gimp” has been sighted at least 16 times since 2016. The man, who is in his thirties, has previously been arrested in three different areas. After a pair of teenagers spotted the man in October last year, and managed to snap photos, police were able to arrest him after he had plagued the area for years. Avon and Somerset Police said: “A man is currently in police custody after being arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance following an incident in Bleadon overnight. A member of the public called us at 12.07am to report a man wearing latex had jumped out in front of her vehicle on Accommodation Road. “Officers arrived at the scene three minutes after the call was received and located and detained a man aged in his 30s nearby. The man has previously been arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance in relation to incidents in the Cleeve, Claverham and Yatton areas in October last year. He remains under investigation for these incidents.” Inspector Graeme Hall, of the neighbourhood policing team, added: “We understand this latest incident may cause the community some concern. We took this morning’s report extremely seriously and had officers on the scene within minutes which ultimately led to the arrest being made. “To reassure the community, we will be carrying out extra patrols in the Bleadon area and anyone concerned about this, or any other incident, is encouraged to speak to an officer.”
