A man who was subjected to homophobic abuse by a self-styled “Muslim patrol” in Whitechapel has come forward to police.

The man is now being questioned after police submitted an appeal for him to make himself known to them last week.

It is part of an ongoing investigation into a series of incidents on the weekend of January 12 and 13.

Several videos of vigilantes patrolling the streets of Whitechapel were uploaded to YouTube. In one, shot in Commercial Street, a man is told to: “get out of here you fag... don’t stay around here any more”.

Other videos show passers-by being harassed and told to pour away their alcoholic drinks as the vigilantes tell them to leave the area surrounding the East London Mosque.

A spokesperson said: “The Metropolitan Police Service takes these incidents very seriously and is pursuing various lines of enquiry with a view to identifying and prosecuting the individuals concerned.”

A total of five arrests have been made as part of the investigation.

Last week police arrested a 25-year-old man and a 29-year-old man, and yesterday a 17-year-old was arrested. They have all now been bailed to a date to be confirmed pending further enquiries.

A 22-year-old man was also arrested in Acton, west London on Sunday, and a 19-year-old man was held after going to an east London police station on Monday.

They have been bailed to return to police on March 12 and March 11 respectively.

All were arrested on suspicion of GBH and Public Order offences.

Anyone with information contact police at thcsu@met.police.uk (for the attention of DI Cliff Jones, DS Chris Bagshaw, DC Stacey Yarker), report it to police via 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.