The Metropolitan Police are limiting the use of anti-terror stop-and-searches EPA

THE Metropolitan Police is to reduce its use of controversial anti-terror powers amid claims that their use was causing race problems.

Under the rules officers are allowed to stop and search people without reasonable suspicion.

But the use of Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 came under criticism that too many searches were alienating ethnic minorities.

In future its use will be restricted to policing "iconic" or strategically important sites, such as Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament, and to specific operations authorised by senior officers.

In other cases officers will be told to use Section 43 of the Act, which requires them to have reasonable suspicion that the person they are stopping and searching is a terrorist.

The Met increased its use of Section 44 of the Act following the car bomb attacks on a nightclub in the West End and Glasgow Airport in June 2007.

Since October 2007 the force has carried out 154,293 stop and searches under the powers.

Assistant Commissioner John Yates, who took over as the Met's head of counter-terrorism last month, highlighted the concerns about the use of Section 44 in a report to the Metropolitan Police Authority.

He wrote: "There is no requirement to have any reasonable grounds to conduct the search.

"This power reverses a fundamental principle in that no suspicion of wrongdoing is required."

Yates added: "The power is seen as controversial and has the potential to have a negative impact, particularly on minority communities."

The Met is testing the new tactics in four boroughs - Southwark, Brent, Newham and Tower Hamlets - and plans to roll them out across London later this summer.