Three men arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences continue to be questioned by police who were today given extra powers to detain them in custody.

The Bolton News reported police had raided a number of properties in Bolton and Wigan on Wednesday evening.

A raid was carried out on Grecian Mill in Great Lever and police have not revealed the other Bolton location.

Warrants were also executed at properties in Abram and Hindley.

The three men, aged 35, 36 and 51, were arrested at separate locations on suspicion of commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism.

The Bolton News:

A Greater Manchester Police spokesman said: “Counter-terrorism police officers have been granted a warrant of further detention in relation to the three men arrested on suspicion of commission, preparation, and instigation of acts of terrorism earlier this week. This allows officers to keep the men in custody for a further five days."

Police said they are likely to remain on scene for the coming days adding “we do not currently believe there to be any wider threat linked to this activity”

Assistant Chief Constable Rob Potts, who holds responsibility for counter terrorism policing in the north west, said on Wednesday evening: “We have executed a number of planned warrants as part of an ongoing counter-terrorism investigation.

“Three men have been taken into custody for questioning and scenes remain in place as we conduct further enquiries. Today’s activity has been the culmination of much detailed planning and we have put measures in place to minimise disruption to local residents as much as possible.

“I understand that any time arrests of this nature are made it will cause concerns and people will naturally have questions. Although we can’t go into specific details of the investigation at this stage, I want to reassure members of the public that we do not currently believe there to be any wider threat linked to today’s activity.

“Further detail will be released where appropriate as the investigation progresses.”