The Home Secretary today quietly dropped his controversial plans to give police the power to shut down mosques being used by extremists.

The proposal was originally part of Tony Blair’s 12-point plan to combat terror after the July 7 London bombings, but a consultation produced a negative reaction from top police officers and the Muslim community.

Charles Clarke said in a written statement to MPs today: "I will not seek to legislate on this issue at the present time, although we will keep the matter under review."

Mr Clarke published detailed plans in October, proposing that police should have powers to temporarily close down places of worship - such as mosques - which were being used by extremists.

The trustee or registered owner of a place of worship would be issued with an order - obtained from a court by the police - requiring them to take steps to stop such behaviour, the document said. Failing to do so would be a criminal offence.

If the activity persisted, police could apply to the court for a "restriction of use order" which could temporarily close all or part of the premises.

The consultation paper said the new powers would be a "last resort" and police would attempt to solve problems at any place of worship with members of the community.

But earlier this month the Association of Chief Police Officers said the proposed measures risked alienating ordinary Muslims and driving extremism underground.

And in November, a group of Islamic experts appointed by Mr Clarke in the wake of July 7 said the measures could be arbitrary and open to "possible misuse".

In a report they said: "The proposal on closing certain mosques rather than simply prosecuting the criminality in those mosques could deprive a whole congregation from benefiting from a provision they may have heavily invested in because of a few fanatics misusing their facilities."

A Home Office spokesman said 66 people and organisations responded to the consultation and the majority were negative.

Assistant Chief Constable of Hertfordshire Rob Beckley, an Acpo spokesman on counter-terrorism, said in his response: "Acpo does not support the enactment of legislation of the type proposed.

"In the opinion of Acpo, there would need to be significant changes to the intentions and wording of the legislation for it to be either desirable or enforceable."

The Rev Graham Sparkes of the Baptist Union of Great Britain commented: "Over the centuries, many Baptists experienced persecution, discrimination and imprisonment at the hands of the state, in order to secure control over what was preached, where it could be preached, and who could preach.

"We would be very sensitive towards any proposals that put these hard won freedoms under threat."

General secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain, Sir Iqbal Sacranie, said in his submission: "We ... feel that mosques are being misidentified and stereotyped as incubators of violent extremism, while the social reality is that they serve as centres of moderation.

"The bombers were indoctrinated by a subculture outside the mosque. The notion of influential 'back-door' mosques is a figment of the imagination."

He added: "Our belief is that a major factor in the rise and spread of the current tide of terrorism is rooted in our foreign policy and in the double standards of our Government in its dealings in the Middle East in partnership with the government of the US. We urge you to accept this fact."

"We ask you to take urgent remedial action so that our citizens, here as well as in the rest of the world, do not become targets of criminals and murderers who parade as political activists but who surely are nothing other than terrorists."

Morag Mylne, convenor of the Church and Society Council of the Church in Scotland, said: "The power suggested seems to us to amount to a desire to ‘get someone, anyone’.

"We think there is no point trying to adjust or amend the proposal. We believe it should be abandoned forthwith."

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