The detention of nine men arrested in terror raids in Birmingham last week will be reviewed today.

West Midlands Police said last night that they had finished their searches of 18 residential and commercial properties raided last Wednesday and Friday.

Police were granted further time to question the men by a district judge at Coventry Magistrates' Court last week and will either have to release them, charge them or apply for an extension of further detention today.

The suspects, detained by officers on suspicion of the commission, instigation or preparation of acts of terrorism, are being held at Coventry's Chace Avenue police station.

A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: "The nine men remain in custody and, as required by law, their detention will be reviewed today."

Eight of the suspects were picked up in a series of dawn raids last Wednesday, while the ninth was stopped on a motorway in the city several hours later.

The alleged plot involved a plan to abduct and behead a Muslim British soldier, according to sources.

The Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit, leading the investigation codenamed Operation Gamble, has so far refused to disclose any details about the inquiry.