People should not be stopped and searched just because they are Muslim she said, before the first of a series of meetings with community leaders.

The powers should be used on the basis of available intelligence and not in a discriminatory way, Blears added.

She also urged police to explain to communities how they used the powers.

There have been concerns from Muslim leaders that the searches could harm community relations.

Blears said the police had guidance that they "should not be used against any particular community".

Picking people up just on the basis that they're Muslim is never going to get the result you want," she said.

The comments came as Blears was beginning talks with Muslim leaders across the country, in an attempt to improve community relations and root out extremists.

At the first, in Oldham, she met councillors, police and MPs, as well as Muslim leaders.

Blears wanted to ensure the "genuine anger" of some young Muslims was heard.

"It's a very difficult thing to do but it is absolutely vital to make sure that we give people a sense they have a say here," she added.

Shadow Attorney General Dominic Grieve welcomed the meeting, but said that these alone would not resolve problems in Muslim communities.

He said he believed the bomb attacks on London were "explicable" because of the deep sense of anger, fuelled by the Iraq war and despair about the Islamic world, felt by some Muslims in the UK.

The meeting was held as police continued to question further suspects, arrested on Monday, in connection with the attempted bomb attacks of 21 July.

And a senior Metropolitan police officer has met in Brazil the family of Jean Charles de Menezes, shot dead by police after he was mistaken for a suicide bomber.