An amateur weather enthusiast has admitted an indecent act in front of two teenage girls as they walked to school.

Shaun Maltby, 29, who runs the Kent Weather website from his home in Carnation Road, Strood, was naked from the waist down as the children went past the house.

As they continued along the road, both girls looked back and saw him masturbating at the front window. They reported the matter to a teacher, who called the police.

Maltby, pictured right, pleaded guilty to a charge of exposure when he appeared before Medway magistrates.

He was initially charged with exposure over an earlier incident in October, but this was dropped because of his guilty plea to the later incident.

Debbie Jones, prosecuting, said: "The two victims were walking to school and one saw him at his front door with no clothes on, looking at them.

"Both continued walking and passed three or four houses, and one girl told the other about what she had seen and they both turned around and saw him masturbating. He was holding the net curtain up at the window.

"He was staring, but there was no expression, so they walked fast and told a teacher when they got to school."

It was also revealed in court that Maltby was found guilty of two similar offences in 2009 and at the time he was placed on the sex offenders' register.

Maltby has turned his home into a weather centre and through his website provides two-day outlooks on weather across Kent. He gets an average of 100,000 visits to the site a month.

Shaun Maltby forecasts weather from his home in Carnation Road, Strood

Robin Murray, defending, said: "He has pleaded guilty today to prevent the victims coming to court to give evidence. He is depressed and had thought he had got beyond this sort of behaviour.

"He regrets the anxiety they have been put through and he does voluntary work of a life-saving nature and has joined a gym. He wants to redeem himself."

Magistrates adjourned sentencing for reports, but warned Maltby they were looking at all options - including sending the case to crown court for sentencing.

He will appear at Medway Magistrates' Court again on Tuesday, February 5.