A 64-year-old man has been jailed for sexually assaulting two girls under five – more than 20 years ago.

Colin Kidd, of Temple Gardens in Letchworth, was found guilty of six counts of indecent assault by a jury at Cambridge Crown Court on Friday.

On Monday he received a six-year jail sentence and was also ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely.

The 64-year-old, who had no previous convictions, had pleaded not guilty to all of the offences which took place in Hitchin in the 1980s and early 1990s when the girls were aged between three and five.

In a statment read out in court by Judge Gareth Hawkesworth, one of the victims said she remembered there being numerous occasions when he would touch her inappropriately.

They all happened around the time when she was going to pre-school and before she had started nursery. Kidd would watch television with the girls and stroke around their genitals.

On one occasion he went into one of the girls’ bedrooms and performed a sexual act.

Det Con Helen Richmond, from the Historical Investigation Team, said: “We welcome this sentence and hope it brings some reassurance to the victims of Colin Kidd.

“We recognise the long lasting impact these types of offences have on victims and, despite the difficulties which can occur with the passage of time, we will always seek to bring offenders to justice.”

Jon Brown, from child protectiion charity the NSPCC, said: “It’s vitally important that abuse victims come forward and report what has happened so that they can get the help they may need and so that the abuser can be brought to justice – regardless of whether the abuse is recent or happened a long time ago.

“It’s also important that when victims are courageous enough to disclose their experiences they must be listened to and believed.”

For support or advice about abuse call the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 500 or visit nspcc.org.uk.