A MAN has been arrested after paedophile hunter vigilantes confronted him outside his home.

Police stepped in after the vigilante group raised the alarm with allegations that the man had used a fake profile to groom what he believed was a 14-year-old girl online.

The 48-year-old was arrested on suspicion of inciting a child into sexual activity.

He has since been released under investigation pending further enquiries.

The vigilante group, whom we are not naming for legal reasons, conducted a “sting” operation where an adult member posed as a 14-year-old girl online.

The group filmed the man when they put him under citizen’s arrest and confronted him with their evidence.

They alleged that the man had used a fake profile to groom "a 14-year-old girl" —actually an adult decoy — for two months.

In the film one of the group members told him: “You groomed her for months, being all nice, telling her you loved her, you’ve fallen in love, she’s beautiful, she’s sexy, she’s everything...and then you started with the sexual innuendo.”

She went on to detail how he then requested naked photographs of the girl and described a sexual act he wanted to perform on her.

The group member said: “If this was a real 14-year-old child you could have ruined this child’s life.”

The group contacted the police and filmed their arrival when an officer took the man away.

Police confirmed that they had responded to a report of child grooming at 10.56am on Saturday. Anyone with information should contact police on 101 quoting reference number 717 of 05/01/19.