A Sex pest made 15,000 ‘lewd’ calls in 91 days to unsuspecting victims.

Police said Amjid Khan, 39, would pick names out of the phone book and then make obscene comments when people picked up.

The defendant, of Queen’s Park Road, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to making a public nuisance when he appeared before Preston Crown Court.

Police were made aware of Khan’s ‘disgusting’ activity when victims called to tell them they had been targeted.

The majority of calls had been made to total strangers but others were made to people Khan knew, who identified him to officers.

An 18-month investigation by police going through phone records revealed he had made thousands of the dirty calls, on average around 165 every day, over a three month period.

Speaking after the hearing, Det Sgt Adrian McHugh, said the case was one of the most bizarre of its kind he had seen.

He said: “It was quite unusual and the scale of it was quite breathtaking.”

“Over a three-month period, he made 15,000 telephone calls, all of a sexual nature.

“They were to totally random numbers that he picked out of the telephone book. The calls were horrible.”

Unemployed Khan was released on conditional bail and will appear again before the crown court on April 30 for sentencing.

Cllr Salim Sidat, who represents the Audley ward, said he was disgusted to hear what Khan had done.

He said: “I am very shocked to hear about this and I just cannot get my head around why anybody would do it.

“The mind boggles. I do not know where anybody would get the time to make that many calls each day.

“It is disgusting behaviour and I hope justice will be done when he is sentenced next month.”

By Jessica Cree