Story By: Koen Berghuis, Sub-Editor:Michael Leidig,Agency:Central European News

Picture Credit: CEN

Police are hunting a pervert suspected of making off with dirty nappies from bins outside nursery schools to sniff them for kicks.

The bizarre activity is the talk of the town of Dongen in the province of Noord Brabant in the southern Netherlands.

Nicole Mallens, the head of one of the town’s nursery schools, said she once spotted the man in action from a window.

She said: “I saw him taking out bags of nappies to tie them to his bike. He left the bin lid open. And then he cycled away.”

Ms Mallens described him as aged about 19. She gave chase in her car but lost track of him when he cycled into a nearby forest.

She said: “I tried to film him but that was quite hard. I’m not sure if I would recognise him again if I saw him in town.

“Parents who pick up their children have also often seen a youngster matching his description rummaging around the bins.”

Ms Mallens believes the nappy thief is a person with a bizarre fetish: “We think he just sniffs the nappies and then throws them away,” she said.

The thief has reportedly been stealing nappies for years from bins at multiple nursery schools in Dongen and surrounding villages.

Many of the nappies have later been found dumped in a forest outside the nearby village of ‘s Gravenmoer (correct).

One local woman, who has reported 11 cases of nappies being dumped, said it was obvious the nappies had been opened

The woman, who asked not to be named, said: “In the last few weeks, there have been more and more such cases. It gives me an unsafe feeling.

“You never know what kind of person it is and how he would react if he sees me walking here. It is a person with a very weird fetish.”

Police have launched an investigation and say the man might even face charges of theft, as well as flytipping for dumping the nappies in the forest.

A spokesman said: “We are performing extra surveillance near the affected nursery schools and the dumping spots known to us.”