A regional press reporter posing as a 14-year-old girl in an Internet "chatroom" was subjected to suggestive approaches within minutes.

The Derby Evening Telegraph conducted the investigation to show how easy it could be to catch perverts who peddle their trade online.

The newspaper’s editorial comment column read: "They were perfectly happy to give their telephone numbers and arrange meetings.

"If detectives were to carry out such an exercise, significant inroads could surely be made in tackling this threat to our children."

It was just a matter of minutes before a 50-year-old pervert thought he was chatting to a teenage girl.

But his prey turned out to be reporter Lucy Rees, posing as 14-year-old "Jessica".

In a few more minutes, ten men claiming to be aged 15 to 65 were queuing up to chat in private, find out what she looked like, where her parents worked and if she had any brothers or sisters.

The Home Office has just launched a £1m campaign to make parents and children aware of the potential dangers posed by online paedophiles, to be launched at www.internetsafetyzone.co.uk.