A regional daily splashed on the arrest of two men after they were reported to police by a self-styled journalist and “paedophile hunter”.

Yesterday’s Lancashire Evening Post led on the arrest of two men from Preston, aged 27 and 50, on suspicion of attempting to meet underage girls.

The arrests were made after an investigation by Stinson Hunter, who rose to prominence after a TV documentary following his activities, entitled ‘The Paedophile Hunter’, aired last year.

The documentary sparked a debate among the regional press in his native Midlands, with a column by Burton Mail reporter Steve Ashby questioning Stinson’s journalistic credentials.

However, his hometown paper the Nuneaton News backed his plans to “take his crusade to parliament”.

The latest arrests come after videos and text messages were uploaded to social media sites by Stinson, who was posing as a 13-year-old girl during the ‘stings’.

When contacted by an LEP reporter, the arrested 27-year-old admitted that he had featured in a video filmed by Stinson on Preston Docks.

He said he was there because he was resting from cycling, not to meet an underage girl for sex.

The man also admitted he was responsible for text messages featured on Stinson’s site but said his account on the social media site Lovoo had been hacked, which was when the lewd messages began.

Stinson told the LEP: “I’m pleased the police have followed both of these stings up, it’s important that they do and take it seriously, because if they ignore it they become part of the problem.”

He added: “My whole purpose is not to stitch the police up or embarrass them, though I am doing.

“My intention has always been to to highlight an issue and I’m getting the police and the courts to do the work. But in the four months since the Paedophile Hunter was on TV, the government has done nothing.

“The government are trying to find ways to shut me up, they want to keep me out of the papers, but my profile is being raised even more.”