The number of white terror suspects being arrested in the UK has outstripped those of Asian appearance for the second year in a row.

Official figures showed that that 117 white people were arrested on suspicion of terror offences in 2019, compared with 111 Asian suspects and 21 black suspects.

“The proportion of white people arrested exceeded the proportion of Asian people arrested for the second consecutive year, having not done previously since 2004,” a Home Office document said.

The change comes after increased police operations against far-right extremists, including members of National Action.

The neo-Nazi terrorist group was banned in 2016 but split into factions that operated under different names, whose members were later arrested in mass raids.

UK terror plots that were foiled by security services Show all 14 1 /14 UK terror plots that were foiled by security services UK terror plots that were foiled by security services Oxford Street terror plot Lewis Ludlow was jailed for life in March 2019 for planning a 'spectacular multi-victim attack' on Oxford Street in London. He pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey last year to plotting an attack in the UK and funding Isis abroad EPA UK terror plots that were foiled by security services Rosie Cooper MP plot Jack Renshaw admitted plotting to kill his local Labour MP with a machete in June 2018. Renshaw bought a 19in machete intending to use it to kill Rosie Cooper, MP for West Lancashire. His plan was foiled by whistleblower Robbie Mullen, who heard of the plot in a meeting of alleged and convicted National Action members in the Friar Penketh pub in Warrington Hope Not Hate UK terror plots that were foiled by security services 'Poppy terror plot' Nadir Ali Sayed, his cousin Yousaf Shah Syed, and Haseeb Hamayoon, were charged with terrorism offences over an alleged plot to behead a member of public. The trio were arrested in London and High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire on 6 November - three days before Remembrance Sunday in 2014 PA UK terror plots that were foiled by security services National Action arrests Following the arrest of six men in 2018 on suspicion that they were members of the banned far-right terror group National Action, two were jailed. Christopher Lythgoe was found to be leader of the banned group and jailed for eight years, while Matthew Hankinson was jailed for six years. While it was found that Lythgoe did not encourage Jack Renshaw's plot to kill a Labour MP, the judge noted that he "did nothing to stop or discourage" the attack PA UK terror plots that were foiled by security services Shane Fletcher A self-described 'loner', Fletcher planned to kill members of the public at a football match in his home town of Workington. He had been referred to the government's Prevent programme nine moths prior to his arrest after stating that he dreamed about "shooting up a mosque" PA UK terror plots that were foiled by security services Heathrow airport arrests A 19-year-old from Coventry man was arrested at London's Heathrow airport on suspicion of preparing for acts of terrorism in November 2014 UK terror plots that were foiled by security services Extradition of Abu Hamza Radical muslim cleric Abu Hamza was extradited to the US in 2014 after having been jailed in the UK for 7 years for 11 offences under the Terrorism Act Getty UK terror plots that were foiled by security services South East Counter Terrorism Unit arrests Six people were arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences after a series of dawn raids in the south of England in October 2014. Three men and three women were detained separately in two properties in Portsmouth, one in Farnborough and one in Greenwich following an operation by the South East Counter Terrorism Unit. Counter-terror officers said they had disrupted what was believed to be the early stages of what could have turned into a “significant plot” PA UK terror plots that were foiled by security services October 2014 arrests Three men were arrested in central London on 13 October as part of an investigation into Islamist-related terrorism. The arrests come nearly a week after five men were arrested in dawn raids that Whitehall officials said “may have foiled the early stages” of a plan to attack the UK Peter Macdiarmid/Getty UK terror plots that were foiled by security services Anjem Choudary arrest Anjem Choudary, the radical activist and co-founder of the banned al-Muhajiroun group, was arrested in September 2014 as efforts intensify to disrupt the ideological backers of young British Muslims travelling to fight in foreign conflicts. Mr Choudary was among nine men held on suspicion of supporting a banned terrorist group and encouraging terrorism. The arrests came shortly after Mr Choudary fired off a series of angry tweets after David Cameron called on MPs to back air strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria Oli Scarff/Getty UK terror plots that were foiled by security services North West Counter Terrorism Unit funds seizing Police seize £250,000 of cash intended to fund Isis at Manchester Airport and north-west ports. Using powers under the Terrorism Act, the money was confiscated by officers from the North West Counter Terrorism Unit in Ocotber 2014 Getty UK terror plots that were foiled by security services Tarik Hassane arrest A medical student who was offered a place at a London university has been named among four men who are being questioned by counter-terror police after a series of raids across the capital. Tarik Hassane, 21, is believed to have been Tasered when he was arrested on suspicion of being involved in a "significant" Islamist terror plot on 7 October 2015 UK terror plots that were foiled by security services Abu Qatada removed from UK Radical preacher Abu Qatada will not be returning to the UK after being cleared of terror charges in Jordan in 2013 Reuters UK terror plots that were foiled by security services Haider Ahmed knife plot Teenage Isis supporter Haider Ahmed purchased a 15ins hunting knife and threatened to launch a stabbing attack on the Tube. Prosecutors said he may alternatively have been planning to rob someone with the weapon to fund his travel to fight for Isis in Syria He was jailed for preparing an act of terrorism in June 2019 Counter Terrorism Policing South East

The head of counterterror police declared right-wing extremism as the fastest-growing terror threat in the UK in September, and intelligence agencies have been brought in to tackle it for the first time.

A total of 25 attack plots have been foiled since March 2017 – 16 Islamist, eight far-right and one other.

There were 280 arrests for terrorism-related activity in 2019, two fewer than the previous year.

Less than a third of suspects were charged, while 39 per cent were released for continuing investigation, 23 per cent were freed without charge and 7 per cent faced alternative action.

Raffaello Pantucci, the director of international security studies at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), said white suspects would include far-right extremists, Muslim converts and people of “mixed or unclear” ideology.

He told The Independent that arrest figures may reflect the operational capacity of police as well as the threat itself.

“This is the number that you will see being dealt with because that’s what the system can handle,” he added.

“The far-right problem has been increasing – the intelligence services’ decision to focus on them is a reflection of the fact they see a genuine problem escalating and they need to deal with it.”

The senior national coordinator for counterterror policing said there had been a spike in arrests in the last three months of the year.

“As we have seen in the last few months, attacks can happen anywhere and at any time without warning,” said Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dean Haydon.

“The figures show that the gradual decline in terror-related arrests has continued since 2018, but despite this – and the reduction in the threat level from severe to substantial – the attacks in Fishmongers’ Hall and Streatham demonstrate that we cannot allow ourselves to think this threat has diminished.

Sudesh Amman, 20, launched a terror attack in Streatham days after being released from prison (Metropolitan Police/PA)

“With 3,000 or so subjects of interest currently on our radar and more convicted terrorists soon due to be released from prison, we simply cannot watch all of them, all the time.”

As of 31 December, there were 231 prisoners in custody for terrorism-related offences in Britain – up nine on the previous year.

More than three-quarters were categorised as holding Islamist extremist views, 18 per cent far-right and 6 per cent other ideologies.

A total of 54 people were released from custody in the year, three-quarters of whom were freed after serving prison sentences.

The majority had been handed terms of four years or more, including one life sentence.

In the wake of attacks committed by released prisoners in London Bridge and Streatham, the government has brought in an emergency law preventing the automatic release of terrorist prisoners.

Those on determinate sentences will be kept inside jail for longer and assessed by the Parole Board before being freed.

The law was introduced amid rising concerns over terrorist networking and radicalisation in jails, where two alleged terror attackers have recently been attempted by prisoners.

One terrorist, who attacked police officers with a sword outside Buckingham Palace and then planned new atrocities, described being “surrounded by jihadis” in HMP Belmarsh.

Up to 800 inmates at any one time are being monitored for suspected extremism, and prison officers suspect the number is far higher – and growing.

Mr Haydon warned that the only way to reduce the number of terrorists in the long term was by preventing people from being drawn into radicalisation.