One in 4 children meets an Internet stranger

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The figure is a three-fold increase on a similar study carried out two years ago.

One in four of the youngsters said they went to the rendezvous alone, and the majority of the rest were accompanied only by a friend of their own age.

A mere 2 per cent said they went to the meeting with a trusted adult.

The alarming study by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre questioned 6,000 youngsters aged 11 to 16 about their internet habits.

Researchers were shocked by the number of children claiming they had met someone who they had struck up a relationship with on the web.

The study also revealed that nearly half the youngsters questioned used the internet for more than an hour every day.

The protection centre warned youngsters yesterday not to meet people they contacted in chatrooms and on social networking sites without taking a trusted adult with them.

A spokesman said: "Children are aware to a degree that there could be some danger associated with meeting someone offline that they first met online.

"By taking a friend along with them, they are potentially putting another child at risk if the person they are meeting up with is a predatory paedophile.

"People lie in the real world and they do in the virtual world too."