Asylum system "needs tightening"

But David Crausby, MP for Bolton North-east, said the government was putting measures in place to curb the threat.

He was speaking after Home Office statistics showed one in four terror suspects arrested in Britain to be asylum seekers.

Earlier this month, Omar Altimimi was jailed for nine years for keeping masses of terror-related material on computer at his Lansdowne Road home, Tong Moore. During the trial, it was revealed his claim for asylum had been rejected.

Mr Crausby said: "We don't deal with asylum claims as quickly as I would like. We have to integrate asylum seekers or send them home if they do not have a justifiable claim."

He backed controversial measures such as ID cards and 90 days' detention for all terror suspects.

"The major issue is identifying who's who and what's going on once they get here," he said.

"That is why I am in favour of ID cards. I think we must take advantage of new technology. Then the issue is interviewing suspected terrorists and giving the police enough time."

Susan Williams, leader of Trafford Council and Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for the Bolton West seat, backed calls by senior Tories for an investigation into the link between the failures in the asylum system and terror suspects.

"The whole process needs to be tightened up because people are going under the radar and a small number of them are going on to get involved in illegal activity," she said.

Altimimi, aged 37, is certain to face deportation when he is released.

Detectives who searched his home computer found manuals on how to make car bombs and lists of "suitable targets" for attacks, including nightclubs and airport.

Altimimi had links with Arab terror cells in Europe and kept up multiple identities to cover his tracks.

The father-of-three was found guilty of six counts of possessing material for the purpose of terrorism. He was also convicted of two charges of money laundering.