Shamed wolf-whistling builder refuses to back down

A UK builder who repeatedly wolf-whistled a woman leading her to complain to police has refused to back down, calling the woman "a silly little girl" who should consider herself lucky to get attention.

Poppy Smart, 23, from Worcester, made an official complaint to police on Monday after secretly filming a group of builders wolf-whistling and catcalling her, which she said had happened every day for a month, The Mirror reports.

Ms Smart said the builders often blocked the pavement, forcing her to walk around them.

Have you seen or filmed any incidents of harassment here? Send us an email at newstips@ninemsn.com.au.

"I often had my earphones in but I could still hear the whistling over it," Ms Smart said.

"When it got so bad I even considered changing my route to work but thought 'why should I do that?'."

Ms Smart said the repeated harassment made walking to her job as a marketing co-ordinator "an awful experience".

But one of the men who works at the building site Ms Smart complained about, Ian Merret, 28, says Ms Smart should take the attention as a compliment.

"Police came to our site and said someone had made an allegation of harassment. They showed us the video so we stopped doing it," the father-of-one said.

"It's not worth getting into trouble over some silly little girl. I don't know why she complained, she must be thinking things above her station."

If Ms Smart walked past again "she will get wolf-whistled again, if she is lucky", Mr Merrett said.

"I have wolf-whistled so many girls and got so many birds and snogged so many girls off the back of that, and never had a complaint before.

"But I've got a girlfriend so need to be careful what I say."

While police have taken no further action, it is not the first time Mr Merrett has been in trouble with the law.

He was jailed for 12 months in 2009 for an unprovoked assault of a man on a train, after a friend of Mr Merrett's indecently exposed himself to passengers.

Ms Smart said more women need to stand up to wolf-whistlers.

"I wouldn't put up with harassment in my workplace – I'd tell my boss," Ms Smart said.

"I wouldn't put up with someone on the other side of a restaurant shouting over at me whilst I was trying to have some food with my family, I'd ask the staff to ask them stop. So why should I put up with it in the street every day?"