Muslim communities in Birmingham are feeling picked on and persecuted following the latest high-profile anti-terror raids in the city.

That was the view of residents, traders and community leaders who fear that if the arrests made during Wednesday's raids at Alum Rock, Edgbaston, Kingstanding and Sparkbrook do not result in successful prosecutions, they will be "tainted forever."

Yesterday Councillor Salma Yaqoob (Respect Sparkbrook) said speculation over an Iraq-style kidnap and execution only served to heighten tensions between the police and Muslim community.

Ms Yaqoob said: "The reality is that people are asking why are we being picked on, why are we being persecuted, because that's what it feels like when all they want to do is get on with their day-to-day lives.

"The reason people are so fed up and cynical of the whole process is because the raids are so high profile. The area was full of reporters and television crews yesterday, but they will disappear quickly and when charges are dropped they'll be nowhere to be seen.

"That said I think there would be a huge public outcry if these latest raids fail to turn up anything that results in a successful prosecution"

Azhar Qayum, who runs a furniture firm based in Small Heath, argued that such events had become "a sad fact of life for Muslims in Britain".

The 30-year-old businessman, who lives in Moseley, said: "I think it's unfortunate that Muslims in this country, not just in Birmingham, have got used to this level of suspicion and scrutiny. It's reached the point where dawn raids are not regarded as unusual, instead they're just a sad fact of life for Muslims in Britain.

"They are as worried as anyone else about what these raids mean, they don't want to discover they live next door to a terrorist, but being woken up at 4am and in the full glare of the media is equally unpleasant.

"It's fair to say that the community does feel it's being picked on. There's a lot of accusations but very few stick and there seems to be a distinct lack of hard evidence to back them up."

Adam Mussa, a regional spokesman for the Muslim Association of Britain, believes vocal members of the Muslim community were being targeted unfairly. He said: "Some of the people arrested are just individuals with loud voices, who are vocal about various neighbourhood issues, but that doesn't make them terrorists.

"It's not fair. This seems to be happening again and again. This is a form of victimisation and your average 'Mo Public' is feeling very cynical.

"When you come in and do a job you should make sure you clean up after yourself, and that's what the police need to do here."

In relation to claims that the arrests were made over an alleged plot to kidnap and torture a Muslim soldier, Mr Mussa explained that "in the eyes of Islam" killing innocent people "is utterly wrong".

He added: "So for a Muslim to kill another Muslim is much worse, it's like killing a member of your own family, because they share the same beliefs as you.

"From that perspective it can be seen as wrong for a Muslim man to become a soldier, as they may be asked to do things they do not agree with."