Sir Menzies Campbell has said the police are abusing their stop-and-search powers against ethnic minorities.

Speaking to Muslim community leaders at a mosque in Birmingham on Friday, the Liberal Democrat leader said too many black and Asian suspects are subject to the Terrorism Act 2000 procedure.

He argued that the abuse was alienating community groups as well as being ineffective.

"It is intelligence-led policing, not indiscriminate stop-and-search, that will bring success in the fight against terrorism," he said.

"The police and security services must be unrelenting in their determination to track down those who plot terror attacks.

"Indiscriminate stop-and-search is alienating minority groups who often feel unjustly targeted.

"Anti-terrorism powers are meant to be exceptional powers, used occasionally and only when circumstances demand it.

"The fact that so many people have been stopped, and so few arrested, suggests that the powers are being used as part of standard policing techniques.

"A recent Home Office report states that stop-and-search is being overused. We now need an urgent review of the powers to ensure that it is used more sensitively and effectively rather than as part of routine policing which enflames anger amongst community groups.

"Then the police can focus on the kind of counter-terrorism operations that actually work."