A MAN has been arrested in relation to sexual grooming claims after he allegedly arranged to meet a 13-year-old girl.

The 54-year-old, from Basildon, was held and subsequently bailed by police following a live-streamed confrontation outside Laindon train station on Saturday.

Paedophile hunters, working under the banner Cobra UK, confronted the man after using a decoy profile purporting to be a 13-year-old girl.

During a live stream of the confrontation, the group accused the man of engaging in innapropriate conversations with the decoy profile, as well as arranging to meet the ‘child’.

The stream began at about 1.15pm on Saturday afternoon, and lasted for roughly 50 minutes.

The video concluded as police arrived in Station Approach and arrested a man.

A spokesman for Essex Police said: "A 54-year-old man from Basildon was arrested on Saturday 19 October suspicion of sexual grooming.

"He has been released on bail until Saturday 9 November."

This incident was the latest in a number of paedophile hunter snares leading to arrests in south Essex.

Paedophile hunter groups have grown in prominence in recent years, with many across the country using decoy profiles to snare alleged perverts.

Their actions have proved controversial with critics pointing to potential issues such as entrapment.