ANTI-TERROR police were last night given four more days to question three Burnley men after a dramatic swoop on the M65.

The men, aged 36, 29 and 26, were arrested under the Terrorism Act as they made their way to London on Friday night as part of an aid convoy bound for Gaza. Six other men detained at the same time were later released without charge.

The arrests have caused shock and dismay in Burnley, with neighbours saying they cannot believe what has happened.

Today, detectives were due to continue interviewing the trio on suspicion of terrorism following a weekend in which five homes in the town were searched.

Two properties in Rectory Road and homes in Clive Street, Gordon Street and Robinson Street, all in the Daneshouse and Stoneyholme areas of Burnley, were sealed off as uniform, plain-clothes and forensic officers worked.

In Rectory Road, two end-terrace houses and three vehicles were cordoned off with police tape.

It is understood two men, thought to be in their 40s, live in the houses.

Burnley Councillor Zahir Ahmed, who lives close by, said: “These men are our neighbours. Their kids come round our house and our kids go round theirs.

“There’s nothing extraordinary about them at all.

“They have lived in this road for 15 to 20 years - it is not as if it is someone new.”

He urged fellow residents to “respect” the police in their investigation.

Another neighbour, Shahid Mahmood, 19, said: “I have lived down here for 15 years. These men are good people.

“All the police in the street does not look good for people passing through and it gives Burnley a bad name.”

Tony Brindall, 46, who lives a few doors from the sealed-off homes, added: “We just went out on Saturday morning at about 9.30am, saw the police and thought something major must have happened, like a murder.

“It looked so serious and we have never seen anything like it before.

“It is all allegations at the moment. I get on with everybody and we live together but it is worrying.”

In Clive Street, police sealed off a terraced house and a Mazda 323 car parked outside. The front door had been smashed off its hinges.

Neighbours said a man in his 30s lived at the property with his wife and two children.

His landlady, who refused to be named, said he had used an English name when he moved in last September but had since converted to Islam.

She added: “He never said why he had converted, just that he had and I did not know anything more about it.

“I am his landlady but no one told me anything until I heard from police on Saturday morning.”

Officers also searched houses in Robinson Street and Gordon Street.

A neighbour is Gordon Street said an African man aged in his 20s, with a wife and children, lived in the house searched by police.

Shofiqul Alam, 38, added: “He is always going to the mosque and I am a Muslim too.

“He is very quiet, although I thought he was a good guy and a good neighbour.”

Residents in the streets searched by officers received letters signed by Chief Supt Neil Smith, head of Lancashire police’s Pennine division.

He said: “We will only act when it is necessary and continue to police in a firm but fair manner that is transparent and accountable.

“It’s important for me to point out that sometimes these types of enquiries can be complex and may take time to resolve so I would ask for your patience and support during our investigations.”

The questioning of the three men and painstaking searches of the properties followed a police swoop on the westbound carriageway of the M65 near Bamber Bridge at around 9pm on Friday.

Vehicles emblazoned with the Palestinian flag and a sign saying From Blackburn (UK) to Gaza were stopped and nine men were arrested as part of an “ongoing, intelligence-led” operation by Lancashire police and the North West Counter Terrorism Unit.

Yesterday, detectives were granted permission to continue interviewing the three men until Thursday evening.

Some reports suggested the men were arrested in connection with alleged terror offences abroad. However, police have not confirmed this.