National police chiefs have ordered local forces to crackdown hard on vigilante groups who track down suspected paedophiles.

The guidance tells officers not only not to work with groups who are trying to catch potential child predators - but to pursue them with the full force of the law.

Officers have been told to investigate potential harassment, privacy and violent offences committed by the vigilante groups, as well as those they accuse of child grooming.

The Times reports that the internal guidance was issued to detectives last year, and warns officers that vigilante groups have "little or no consideration" for the safeguarding requirements of victims of the paedophiles they have outed.

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Police are reportedly concerned after an explosion in the number of amateur groups who are targeting child abusers.

Across the UK 75 groups, with names such as Dark Justice and The Hunted one and Plymouth Against Paedophiles, scour the internet in search of potential child rapists.

In November last year, Devon and Cornwall Police raised concern with a paedophile hunter from Ivybridge and asked him to stop undertaking "entrapment activities".

For years, Scott Rivers was posing as a young girl on chat sites in a bid to expose paedophiles and claims to have unmasked at least 21 sexual predators.

On November 20, Mr Rivers visited Heavitree Police Station in Exeter dressed as Batman, to hand in evidence he had formed about a child predator, which prompted officers to hand Mr Rivers and official 'cease and desist letter'.

A Cease and Desist Order is an official order handed down by a government agency or court directing a person or entity to stop doing something immediately.

The crackdown comes after a wave of violence following vigilante attempts to bring abusers to justice.

David Baker, 43, killed himself in October four days after being confronted by paedophile hunters.

He was detained by Hampshire police. His family said the vigilantes failed to consider the repercussions of their actions.

Members of a group called The Hunted One surrounded a man they claimed was grooming a teenage girl on Easter Day at Bluewater shopping centre near Dartford, sparking a violent scuffle.

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The abuse suspect was later jailed for a child sex offence and two of the vigilantes admitted affray.

Two men were attacked by three masked loyalist paramilitaries from Predator Catchers NI in north Belfast this week.

Hundreds, if not thousands of people are posing as children online to catch potential sexual predators and while their actions have lead to scores of prosecutions, it has raised concerns about vigilantism and the safety of both suspects and accusers.

Unlike police officers, vigilante groups do not have the same strict guidelines to abide by or have their work scrutinised.

Officers are told that they must not work with the groups or endorse their activities in any way and they should make clear that confrontation and exposing abusers online "could put people at risk" and warns the wrong people could be exposed.

Chief constable Simon Bailey, of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, speaking last year said such actions could lead to diverting significant resources into the protection of suspects.

Bailey, the national policing lead on child abuse investigation, told the Guardian so-called paedophile hunters who reveal the identity of suspected paedophiles could give suspects “the opportunity to destroy evidence before the police can investigate them”

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National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) guidance tells officers not to work with these groups or endorse their activities.

The document says they should emphasise that exposing and confronting abusers '"could put people at risk" and preserve evidence quickly in case groups destroy it.

It also warns that the wrong people could end up being outed as paedophile by mistake or even intentionally.

Bailey added: "So-called paedophile hunters are taking risks they don't understand and can undermine police investigations."