All 24 suspects, held during raids in London, Birmingham and High Wycombe on Wednesday night, are British.

Imtiaz Qadir, from the Waltham Forest Islamic Association, said: "I know five of the men very well and they are really respectable young Muslim men. I am totally shocked. I don't believe they've done anything to warrant this."

The nineteen named suspects, aged between 17 and 35, are:

From Walthamstow, east London: Abdula Ahmed Ali, 25; Cossor Ali, 23; Assan Abdullah Khan, 21; Waheed Arafat Khan, 25; Muhammed Usman Saddique, 24; Osman Adam Khatib, 19; Ibrahim Savant, 25; Amin Asmin Tariq, 23; and Waheed Zaman, 22.

Also from east London: Nabeel Hussain, 22, from Chingford; Tanvir Hussain, 25, from Leyton; Umair Hussain, 24, from Poplar; Abdul Muneem Patel, 17, from Clapton; Shamin Mohammed Uddin, 35, from Stoke Newington.

From High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire: Shazad Khuram Ali, 27; Umar Islam, 28; Assad Sarwar, 26; and Waseem Kayani, 29.

And, from Birmingham, Tayib Rauf, 22.

Under new anti-terror laws, police have up to 28 days to question the 24 suspects before deciding whether to charge or release them. Questioning is likely to begin later today.