AN innocent man was arrested after being falsely accused on online activity with children after a Facebook ‘sting’ operation.

Cleveland Police arrested the man on Thursday after being sent information by a team of online vigilantes.

A video of the Middlesbrough man was posted on a social media page.

After making inquiries, police say he was wrongly accused and have released him, with no further action to be taken.

And they have urged members of the public to let police investigate concerns, saying they do not condone people confronting suspects themselves.

A police spokesperson said: “After carrying out enquiries, the force would like to make it clear that the man has been wrongly accused and is innocent of any offences.

“He has now been released with no further action.

“The man has been unfairly accused of offences he hasn’t committed on social media channels, which has had a detrimental impact on his family, employment, and personal life.

“Whilst police do investigate information supplied by groups such as this, we do not condone their actions in confronting suspects. We know that groups have the best of intentions, however, we would advise people not to carry out their own enquiries.

“People should contact police and raise their concerns so that specialist officers can investigate thoroughly and in the safest possible way for all involved.”