A man spied on a woman in a toilet cubicle at a popular Ipswich shopping centre, a court heard.

George Orbulescu, 33, was seen on CCTV going into the women's toilets at Sailmakers Shopping Centre on September 22 after loitering outside for around a minute.

Suffolk Magistrates' Court heard how Orbulescu, of Rectory Road, Ipswich, placed his head under the gap between the floor and the cubicle door to spy on a woman in the cubicle.

Shopping centre security staff were alerted and Orbulescu was arrested by police.

Having previously denied observing a person doing a private act on September 23, Orbulescu changed his plea to guilty before magistrates in Ipswich on Wednesday.

Through a statement read in court, the victim, who is aged in her 20s, described sitting on the toilet in the locked cubicle when she saw something "out of the corner of her eye".

She saw brown hair and a man's face looking at her, and was shocked and froze, the court heard.

The victim then grabbed her handbag from the floor to cover herself, but the face then returned.

The woman then put her foot in the gap to try to block the view but as she moved to leave the cubicle, she could once again see the face watching.

The victim initially alerted cleaners and one of them knocked on the door of the Orbulescu's cubicle and looked underneath the door to see a man standing on the toilet seat.

Security were notified and after Orbulescu came out of the cubicle, he gave his mobile phone to staff.

The victim confirmed it was the same man she had seen looking at her and Orbulescu was subsequently arrested by police.

The victim said she was "upset and distressed" by the incident and was worried Orbulescu had been taking pictures of her.

His mobile phone was forensically examined by police and was found not to contain any photographs taken in the toilet, magistrates heard.

In police interview following the incident, Orbulescu told officers he had mistakenly gone into the women's toilets as he urgently needed to urinate, and denied looking under the cubicle or standing on the toilet seat.

But CCTV footage of the toilet corridor at Sailmakers showed him loitering outside and twice looking through the window of the women's toilets before going in.

Magistrates ordered a pre-sentence report from the Probation Service and adjourned sentence until December 23.

Orbulescu was released on bail but must not enter Sailmakers Shopping Centre or any women's toilets, including in shops.