Paedophile hunters snared a suspected sex offender during a sting in a residential street in Basildon, with the groups live video of the incident going viral on social media.

Broken Dreams, an “online predator hunting team”, confronted the man at a property in Thornbush, Basildon, on Wednesday night, making a series of accusations.

The livestream showed the group speaking to the man outside the home, before going inside and quizzing him about claims he had been speaking to young girls online.

One of the videos has been viewed thousands of times, receiving more than 5,300 comments and has been shared 508 times, with additional videos also being shared widely on social media.

Essex Police confirmed the man was arrested at the scene of the snare at 10.30pm on Wednesday, on suspicion of grooming. He has since been released under investigation.

The video ends as the man was put in handcuffs and removed from the property by officers.

A spokesman for Essex Police said: “A man has been arrested on suspicion of sexual grooming in Basildon.

“He was arrested in Thornbush at 10.30pm following information from a third party.

He has been released under investigation.”

Andrew Baggott, Tory leader of Basildon Council, urged people to be careful about “taking the law into their own hands”.

He said: “I think it’s important to remember that people are innocent until they are proven to be guilty.

“These are clearly reports of serious offences and we don’t want this sort of thing going on any where in our borough.

“People should not be taking matters of the law into their own hands and you have to be very measured with things like this.

“There is no room for paedophiles or people who do things like that but you have to be measured.

“I would say anyone who takes the law into their own hands and acts in an unlawful way should feel the full force of the law.”