LONDON, Dec 10, (Agencies):The number of terror suspects apprehended in Britain has reached a record high, fuelled by a surge in arrests related to international terror, according to official figures released Thursday. A Home Office (interior ministry) report said there were 315 terrorrelated arrests in the year to September — an increase of a third over the preceding 12 months. There was a 31-percent increase to 238 in the number of arrests on suspicion of international-related terror offences, the figures showed. The number of women arrested more than doubled from 21 to 50, while the number of under-18s detained jumped from eight to 15. “The majority of the increase in the number of women getting arrested has been linked to international-related terrorism,” the Home Office said

DualOf those arrested, four out of five were British or held British dual nationality — up from 56 percent when data collection began on Sept 11, 2001. “There was a 41 percent increase in the number of persons arrested who considered themselves to be Asian, and a 25 percent increase in the number that considered themselves to be white,” the report said. Some 51 people faced prosecution for terror-related offences in the year to September, up from 30 in the previous year. Of those, 43 were convicted — 28 having pleaded guilty — and eight were acquitted. “We are determined to detect, disrupt and where possible prosecute all terrorist threats to the UK,” said Security Minister John Hayes.