Morris Lightfoot, 55, was arrested after he logged onto an internet chatroom and asked someone claiming to be a teenage girl if she wanted to lose her virginity.

But the person receiving the offer was in fact a suspicious social networking site administrator who called police after reading Lightfoot's explicit messages.

Lightfoot, who resigned as deputy mayor of Harrogate after the allegations came to light, pleaded guilty to three charges of attempting to incite a 13-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity.

Magistrates heard how Lightfoot - using the name 'Moozzaa' - logged on to the chat room on three occasions from his then home in Bachelor Garden, Harrogate, in August last year.

Alison Whiteley, prosecuting, said the administrator decided to pose as a 13-year-old girl after becoming suspicious of him.

The dialogue soon became of a sexual tone from the married father-of-three and he asked if the girl wanted to lose her virginity.

The court heard how Lightfoot, a member of Harrogate Council and North Yorkshire County Council, suggested a meeting with the girl and sent images of himself in a state of undress.

When police arrested Lightfoot, now of Dryden Close, Bilton, he tried to suggest the girl was at fault because she was too young to use the site.

Mrs Whiteley said Lightfoot's actions amounted to grooming.

She added: ''It is just a case of good fortune that no meeting took place."

Geoffrey Rogers, defending, argued that there had been no actual victim in the case and that he had been caught in an internet sting.

He said Lightfoot had become concerned that youngsters in Bilton, his council ward, were engaged in drink-fuelled crime.

Mr Rogers said little progress was being made by the police and other authorities, so he decided to engage with local young people to find out what they were doing and where they were getting the drink.

Lightfoot began to log on to social networking sites as part of his research.

But Mr Rogers said while his initial activities were totally innocent, for reasons he could not explain, he had made sexual references.

The solicitor added ''He is adamant he has no sexual interest in young girls and never has had,''

Lightfoot was bailed until October 31 for probation reports and was warned all options, including prison, would be considered.

He was ordered to sign the sex offenders' register.