The number of people charged by police after being arrested for suspected terrorist activity has fallen sharply, adding to fears that British law enforcers are acting too hastily in their hunt for bomb plots.

Figures released for the first time by the Home Office on Wednesday show that of 231 terror-related arrests made in the year to March 2008, only 51, or 22 per cent, of the suspects were charged. The rate in the previous year was 36 per cent.