SCOTTISH police chiefs have urged vigilante gangs who pose as children to entrap paedophiles to cease their online operations as they risk putting lives in danger.

But the position of Police Scotland contrasts with attitudes in England where leading child protection officers said forces will have to consider working with so-called "paedophile hunters" as part of moves to crackdown on online grooming.

Senior officers previously said groups such as Dark Justice or The Hunted One could put child abuse investigations at risk.

But figures have revealed an increase in the number of cases where evidence gathered by paedophile hunters is being used.

More than 44per cent (114 of 259) cases of the crime of meeting a child following sexual grooming used this evidence in 2016, compared to 20 out of 176 cases in 2014 (11.3per cent).

Chief Constable Simon Bailey, the national lead for child protection at the National Police Chiefs' Council, said: "(These) vigilante groups are putting the lives of children at risk. 

"I'm not going to condone these groups and I would encourage them all to stop, but I recognise that I am not winning that conversation.

"I think (working with vigilantes) is something we're going to have to potentially have to look at, yes, but it comes with some real complexity."

Tyneside-based duo Dark Justice claim on their website to have helped apprehend 104 sex crime suspects, leading to 50 convictions.

But a sting operation by a group known as The Hunted One descended into violence as they ambushed a man who sent sexual messages to a decoy account.

Their target, Mirza Beg, 29, was jailed at Maidstone Crown Court in August for more than three years after he turned up with condoms at the Bluewater Shopping Centre in Greenhithe, near Dartford, Kent, believing he was meeting a 14-year-old girl.

But senior Scottish police officers warned that paedophile hunters' activities could hamper existing operations. 

Detective Superintendent Elaine Galbraith, of Police Scotland said: “If you think someone may be abusing children, please contact the police, we will investigate and through our ongoing work with partners ensure that children are protected. 

“It’s understandable that people want to protect children from harm but we would ask them not to take the law into their own hands. Let the police do their job and manage the risk presented by suspected offenders.

“Revealing the identity of suspected offenders can jeopardise on-going investigations and it can give suspects the opportunity to destroy evidence. It can also put children at risk by making it difficult to identify victims or potential victims. 

“In addition, identifying individuals could indeed heighten risk should for instance suspects or offenders may go missing, it may have an adverse effect on the lives of family members or concerns may be raised for an individual's safety. "

Last year a vigilante paedophile hunter was jailed for life for stabbing an innocent man to death. 

In a seemingly typical ploy, 42-year-old Darren Kelly was lured to a property in Pitsea, Essex by a 15-year-old girl. 

But he received a beating at the hands of Chris Carroll, 20, who then stabbed him with a hunting knife and fled the scene. He is currently serving 21 years in prison. 

In 2003, 60-year-old crime boss Maggie "Big Mags" Haney was sentenced to 12 years for running a drug-dealing ring which sold four-figure sums of heroin daily out of a base known as "Haney's Hotel." 

Before that arrest, the grandmother attracted headlines as a militant campaigner against child grooming on her Raploch council estate in Stirling.

But in 2000, an innocent man, Iain Armstrong, was targeted because he was wearing a similar neck-brace to a convicted sex offender.