Even before dawn, scores of police began a series of raids across the quiet residential streets of Birmingham, searching terraced houses, an Islamic bookshop, cornershop and an internet cafe.

Locals in Jackson Rd, Alum Rock, were still asleep when the raid began at 4:40am, and peered out their windows to see white vans arriving in the street which lies to the east of Birmingham.

One man described being woken by the noise of windows being smashed as police raided the property nearby - one of a dozen targeted in the city in connection with the alleged terror plot.

"I was woken by a bang," said Abid Hussain. "I thought there had been an accident, I thought someone had crashed into my van.

"I looked into the street and saw eight or ten police in the street and more rushing into the house.

"I don’t think they were armed but some were wearing black suits. At about 5am, they took someone away."

Shaheda Nazmeen Nessa, a university student who lives in Jackson Road and whose house falls within the current police cordon, woke up this morning to find many police officers on her street.

"The police were outside the house," she said. "They blocked off one house in particular on the road.

"I was quite alarmed when I woke up. My family were all here as well and they are worried and curious about what is going on."

Eight police officers dressed in overalls later entered the Khan General Store on Jackson Road, accompanied by a police photographer.

Raids also took place in the Sparkhill area of Birmingham where forensic officers began investigating another house, an Islamic bookshop and an internet cafe.

The metal shutters of the Maktabah bookstore were cut by police while photographers worked inside.

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