A number of brownie and rainbow groups in north Kent have been temporarily suspended after a man associated with them was arrested on suspicion of child grooming.

The 47-year-old was quizzed by police on Saturday after being confronted by so-called paedophile hunters outside his home.

He was approached by members of the Child Online Safety Team, who filmed the encounter and posted it Facebook.

It is not known where the units are or how many of them are affected by the shutdown.

In a statement this afternoon, Girlguiding spokesman Victoria Finan said: "We are aware of the very serious allegations that have been made against one of our volunteers.

"We are liaising with the police and relevant statutory authorities as a matter of urgency and have taken swift and appropriate action to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our members, which is our absolute priority.

"The very public nature of the allegations has meant that unfortunately, this has had to involve temporary unit closures, and we are working closely with local volunteers to ensure our young members can continue their guiding experience as soon as possible.

"As this is a live and ongoing police investigation, we can’t provide further information at this point.

"To be absolutely clear, safeguarding is at the heart of everything we do at Girlguiding and we treat all disclosures, concerns and allegations very seriously."

It has been made clear that the man was not connected to any Northfleet District Girlguiding Groups.

During the filmed interrogation, the Northfleet resident admitted he had been talking to who he thought was a 12-year-old girl online.

A member of the group then tells him he was actually communicating with her.

During the 14-minute video, which has been viewed 46,000 times and shared by 810 people, members of the group ask him why he had been speaking to girls online and inciting one youngster to touch herself.

At one point, the man's wife comes over to find out what is happening as members of the group tell him his wife and children are upset by what has happened.

They then tell him they are making a citizens' arrest and continue to question him on why he was communicating with the young girl.

The man replies he was just trying to help her because her father has left the family home.

During another part of the footage, members of the group ask him why he wanted to see the child in her swimwear.

They say they have 300 pages of chat which they claim showed he had tried to groom the girl.

One woman tells him he wrote online that he would love to see the girl in her swimming costume.

Police spokesman James Walker said: "At 8.29am on Saturday a 47-year-old man from Northfleet was arrested on suspicion of grooming.

"He has been bailed, pending further inquiries, until Thursday, November 29."