A self-styled "paedophile hunter" has told how he wants to "wreck the lives" of perverts who prey on children online.

Burton man Michael McCheyne claims when he poses on the web as a young girl, he is flooded with sick messages from sexual predators within minutes.

The 29-year-old father-of-two said he snares the men and films them to publicly shame them.

Mr McCheyne, who claims he was abused himself as a child, said he is aware the police warn people like him not to take these matters in their own hands, but even so he feels as though more needs to be done to keep children safe from harm.

Michael McCheyne the 'paedophile hunter'
Michael McCheyne the 'paedophile hunter'

A Staffordshire police spokesman said: "We understand the desire to protect children but any member of the public who has information about child sexual abuse, online or otherwise, should get in contact with the police so we can investigate and bring people to justice.

"So-called paedophile hunters can undermine police investigations and most importantly, unlike our officers, they have no way of safeguarding child victims."

Michael is part of a Burton-based group which aims to trap predators who claim to have been talking to underage children online.

Michael has been hailed a hero by some
Michael has been hailed a hero by some

He said: "I could make a fake profile on a website right now, and within five minutes I would have 50 messages."

Making victims appear vulnerable is the best way to lure a predator, according to Michael.

He said he often portrays the 'decoys' as being fostered or living with their grandmother or in a hostel to "show the real mentality" of those talking to the children.

He said: "It shows the mentality of these humans and how they can prey on the young and vulnerable.

"When they realise the decoy has no protection, they think they can really go for it.

Michael says running the group is a nine to five job
Michael says running the group is a nine to five job

"I just don't think the world is protecting children.

"I was abused as a kid and now I sort of feel as though I want to ruin their life. My sole purpose is to stand in front of them and out them to the world, because that's what they would have done to a child if it wasn't me."

Growing up in care, suffering abuse as a child and being deliberately set on fire while living on the streets, Michael has experienced more than most would in a lifetime, he says.

He first heard about vigilante groups when Burton-based group, the self-styled Keeping Kids Safe, conducted one of its regular "stings" on a man in the Burton area.

Interested in what it was doing to help catch paedophiles, Michael decided to get involved with the group by producing artwork for its social media pages.

After some thought, he decided to kick-start his own group, Children's Pride, with the hope of protecting children across the Burton region and snaring those talking to underage youngsters online.

Michael McCheyne
Michael McCheyne

He claims he set up a profile, posing as a 13-year-old girl, and within minutes the messages started pouring in.

He said: "You have to know everything. You have to know all the schools in the area, you pick a street name and if he or she lives in a certain area, you say you live in that area. You have to know everything about it.

"One time someone asked me where I was from and I knew he was from this place and he asked me which street so I Googled the area and picked a street.

"Then he told me he drove down the road and said he was outside 'my' house, so I panicked realising he was actually outside a random person's house.

"I called the police and we travelled 13-and-a-half hours to a car park near his house and waited for him to turn up, and he did. Then he was arrested."

Michael McCheyne has revealed all
Michael McCheyne has revealed all

"Some of them show pity for the decoy, and say how sorry they are for their situation and that they don't want to talk to them any more, then two weeks later they are back sending explicit messages."

Michael claimed the seven members involved in Children's Pride never send anyone the first message on any of the messaging apps they use – or ever give anyone a lead.

"We're so careful, we don't even use abbreviations. We don't even say 'LOL' because it can mean lots of love.

"If someone messages me, I reply and if they don't reply after that I don't chase them. I don't want to trap people.

"I actually sit there thinking, 'please don't, please don't message, do the right thing…' and then my phone dings."

After talking to the individuals for some time, Michael says he agrees a meeting point with the pervert. Unknown to them, they are about to meet with a member of the team and not an underage child.

He said all evidence and chat logs are handed to the police and the individual is often arrested. He also records the meeting, or "sting", live on Facebook for thousands of viewers to watch - something many see as controversial.

Michael McCheyne claims he is a paedophile hunter
Michael McCheyne claims he is a paedophile hunter

He has travelled far and wide in a bid to catch those who talk to underage children, including the coasts of England and all the way up in Scotland.

He said: "It's completely affected my personal life. There are times where I've been giving a hug or a kiss and over my shoulder I've been texting a paedophile. It really takes over your life."

"When I first started Children's Pride I never had the intention of going out on a sting and getting people arrested, it was really just an awareness thing."

People comment on his videos from "stings" and he says he gets a lot of positive feedback for what he does.

"It's nice being called a hero. I'm just a 29-year-old kid from Burton.

"But that still doesn't take away the fact that this still happens all day, every single day."

If you have any concerns or suspect a child is being abused contact Staffordshire Police can be contacted via 101.

Any child concerned about inappropriate behaviour online can call Childline for advice on 0800 1111 or use the one-to-one chat service via www.childline.org.uk.