POLICE believe they have smashed an internet plot to lure a young girl in care hundreds of miles away from her home for sex.

A 21-year-old man has been arrested in London on suspicion of trying to entice the girl, living in Blackburn, to the capital for sexual exploitation.

Police said the Blackburn girl had been groomed for sex on a popular teenage web forum.

Officers launched the investigation following a tip-off from a third party.

They said it was believed the "vulnerable" girl had been groomed over the internet for weeks.

Officers working on the investigation were from Operation Engage, which was set up in 2005 to tackle the grooming of young girls by older men across East Lancashire.

The Lancashire Telegraph also launched the Keep Them Safe campaign over the issue.

The campaign has pressed for increased action to tackle the problem which led to community leaders introducing measures to clampdown on the issue.

Officers from Blackburn travelled to London to arrest the suspect.

He has since been released on police bail pending further inquiries.

Police said the arrest was "significant" as they battle against child exploitation across East Lancashire.

Chief Inspector Alice Knowles, speaking on behalf of the police and council, she said: "These types of actions show the determination of Lancashire Constabulary to protect young vulnerable children from this type of crime and bring to justice those who are responsible.

"Despite this, we are not complacent. We have said, and we continue to say, that the public need to be aware of this problem, and to take a stand against it."

The investigation has been welcomed by the mum of a teenager who lifted the lid on a sex ring which abused her daughter.

Her revelations helped launch the Keep Them Safe campaign.

The mother-of-three, who lives in the Revidge area of Blackburn, said: "I still see it going on so I'm glad to hear that the police are actually doing something about this and it's not gone off their radar.

"For my daughter it's too late. She was 14 when she was first groomed. Nobody has been prosecuted for what they did to her.

"Yes, they've had warning letters, but that's not enough. I'll never rest until I get my daughter back."

In a separate case, Zulfar Hussain, 46, from Blackburn, and Qaiser Naveed, 32, from Burnley, were earlier this month each jailed for five years and eight months for abducting two girls from social services and plying them with ecstasy and alcohol and had sex with them.

Last year a Lancashire Telegraph investigation discovered that up to a 100 girls aged between 12 and 16 in East Lancashire were lured away from home and exploited for sex by gangs of men, who were predominantly Asian.