A man has been arrested on suspicion of grooming a child after a vigilante group sting at a Kent hospital.

So-called paedophile hunters approached the suspect outside Darent Valley Hospital, in Darenth Wood Road, yesterday evening.

The 31-year-old man, of no fixed address but believed to originally be from Gravesend, was arrested by officers who were called to the site at 7.51pm.

He remains in police custody.

Representatives of several child protection and hunter style groups live streamed the encounter, in which the man was presented with print outs from chat logs allegedly taken from conversation between him and decoy girls.

In one he allegedly asked a 12-year-old to move in with him and also sent inappropriate images.

The man says he has three young children and denies sending the messages, at one point claiming his Facebook account had been hacked.

The practice of broadcasting such encounters on social media has been criticised by senior police officers in the past as it can jeopardise court proceedings.