But far from this image of integration, malaise and mistrust are on the rise in Britain between the majority and the Muslim minority, a year on from the London bombings.

On July 7, 2005, Islamist extremist suicide bombers killed themselves and 52 others in co-ordinated attacks on London's transport network.

The discovery that the four bombers were British and three were born and raised here was met with stunned disbelief.

Worse, they seemed almost untraceable -- integrated into the mainstream of British society among the everyday folk of the Muslim community.

Britain is home to 1.65 million Muslims (2.8 percent of the population), mostly of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin. Half were born in Britain.

"Muslims are seen as dangerous and not loyal to the country," professor Muhammad Anwar, from the Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations at the University of Warwick, told AFP.

The surge in attacks against Muslims and mosques in the weeks following the London bombings quickly died down.

But newly-strengthened anti-terror laws have "caused further insecurity due to random arrests and searches," said Elveena Malik, from the Commission for Racial Equality.

Continuous police operations, searches and arrests, and the extended period which security suspects can be held without charge, has entrenched the fear in the Muslim community that it is being targeted.

Meanwhile, Britain's internal intelligence agency M15 is spying on some 8,000 sympathisers of the al-Qaeda terror network in a bid to identify future terrorists, The Independent newspaper reported yesterday.

Operation "Rich Picture", also aims to recruit agents within the Islamist movement, the report said.