The man, aged 26, is thought to have escaped abroad after claiming that he wanted to undertake terror training in Afghanistan.

His disappearance is a further embarrassment for John Reid, the Home Secretary, as he is the third terror suspect under a control order to escape in less than six months.

It raises serious questions about the effectiveness of the orders, which were introduced by Government in 2005 and are designed to control and monitor terrorist suspects who can’t be prosected or deported from Britain.

Opposition MPs last night demanded that the suspect be identified. Currently there is an anonymity order in place and the Government has not applied to overturn it.

The man, who is of Pakistani origin and lives in Manchester, was only placed under the control order this month. But within four days he disappeared. Police sources say that the man failed to show up at a local police station to surrender his passport. He was traced to a nearby mosque, where community leaders say he had sought sanctuary. Police rarely enter a mosque: they began discussions with both local community figures and leading officials connected to the mosque.

It is understood that while these talks were taking place, the young suspect was helped to escape through a back entrance while officers from Greater Manchester Police were stationed outside.

Whitehall officials said it is not known whether the person inside the mosque who helped this suspect escape knew that he was under a control order.

This episode will raise questions about how police deal with suspects who take shelter in mosques as senior officers are aware of the sensitivity of entering religious buildings by force.

The man is understood to have visited Afghanistan in the past, where he trained with an extremist Islamic group and had said that he wished to return for further training so he could take part in “jihadi operations”.

The suspect is understood to have expressed a desire to return to Britain after this further training.

Intelligence sources believe the man has left the country and is thought to be already in Pakistan. Officials do not believe he used his own passport to escape but travelled under forged papers.

Tony McNulty, the Police Minister, disclosed the latest blow to the Home Office’s credibility in a written ministerial statement yesterday. MPs had been alerted hours earlier to expect a further disclosure from the Home Secretary who is facing criticism over other failings in his department including a 27,000 backlog of British prisoners sentenced abroad.