A charity worker was “creeped out” by an Amersham man who became a persistent stalker, leaving her gifts and running alongside her bus to declare his love for her, a court heard.

Obsessed Keith Jervis, 55, tried to hug “panic stricken” Laura Lindores , 32, during his 10 week campaign and left her flowers and honey for her, which she binned, Willesden Magistrates Court in London was told.

Ms Lindores first encountered Jervis while working for a Harrow homeless charity and found him accommodation.

Jervis, of Plantation Road, denied, but was convicted of, stalking Ms Lindores between August 24 and November 8, last year.

He received 12 weeks imprisonment, suspended for two years and was ordered to complete 100 hours community service.

He was also made subject to a five-year restraining order, prohibiting contact with Ms Lindores and must pay £400 cost and a £115 victim surcharge.

Ms Lindores told the court that Jervis was tracking her daily routine, even following on foot a bus she had just boarded near her office on November 8.

She said: “I saw him sprinting to catch up with it and when he got on I felt like I wanted to be sick.

“He said: ‘Whatever bus you were on I’d chase for you. You know how much I’m in love with you.

“He tried to hug me and I got off and started running towards our other office and he was shouting my name and: ‘I love you,’ repeatedly.

“I was panic stricken, I didn’t know to cry or be sick. It was like being in a horror movie, my hands were shaking so much I couldn’t get the key in the door.”

She called the police after the incident and told them about previous incidents involving a hooded Jervis hanging around her workplace and a church drop-in centre.

“On September 25 there was a gift bag sitting there at the office,” she told the court. “Inside was a packet of body wipes and a jar of honey, which I thought was really odd.

“Later I received a ‘thank-you’ card with fifty pounds in it and by now was very creeped out and feeling quite paranoid.”

She left a church on October 3 and was confronted by Jervis.

She told the court : “He was sitting on a wall outside and I was freaked out because I couldn’t get back in because the door locks automatically.

“I thought I was going to have a heart attack at this point. I felt I couldn’t stay there because it wasn’t safe and had to get away.

“He shouted something and asked how old I was. I heard loud footsteps behind me as if someone was running and then he appeared in front of me.

“He told me that he had fallen in love with me and I said: ‘I can’t talk, I’ve got to go’ and went into the shopping centre because there is security there.”

During the stalking campaign Jervis made around 27 phone calls to Ms Lindores, leaving multiple voicemails, declaring his love for her.

One text read: ‘Welcome back my Queenie, my boss, my everything’. Another read: ‘It would appear I’ve been turned into a sex pest, although that wouldn’t be the first time.’

Jervis said Ms Lindores was “flattered” by a complementary comment he made about her bum and that she stroked his hand while viewing a property. She denied both claims.