By Gareth Davies

gareth.davies@essnmedia.co.uk

The continued rise in the use of anti-terror stop and search powers by police in Croydon appears to be coming to an end.

The number of people searched under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 soared from just 23 in 2003 to 1,703 last year, the Advertiser has discovered.

However, following public pressure, the Metropolitan Police has cut down on its use of Section 44.

And this means the number of anti-terror stop and searches - where officers can stop anyone in specified areas without the need for reasonable suspicion - in the borough is set to decrease for the first time in six years.

This is fairly certain as there were just 542 people stopped under Section 44 between January and September 2009.

Nationwide, few of the anti-terror searches result in arrest and Croydon is no different.

Only 1.2 per cent of the 3,998 searches in Croydon between January 2003 and September 2009 led to an arrest.

And the majority of these 47 arrests were for offences that had nothing to do with terrorism.

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson ordered the use of Section 44 powers to be scaled back in May, after widespread public criticism.

To help do this the Met drew up a list of 100 hotspots in which they could still use the power.

It emerged in October that Crystal Palace's ground, Selhurst Park, had been included on the list.

Civil liberties campaign group Liberty welcomed the recent decrease in searches in Croydon but called on the Government to introduce restrictions.

Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, said: "Parliament needs to take responsibility for the divisive blunt instrument it created.

"We need urgent legislation to provide transparency and tighter definitions for its use."

But a spokesman for the Home Office insisted there were times when the powers were highly beneficial.

He said: "Stop-and-search is a powerful tool in helping to prevent and disrupt crime and detect offenders, whether its street robbery, gun and knife crime, drug dealing or terrorism.

"But, as with all police powers, it must be exercised proportionately."