London, Oct.31: Data compiled by the Ministry of Justice reveals that stop and searches conducted under anti-terror powers in Britain in 2006 rocketed by 34 percent to 44,500.

This included an 84 percent rise in the number of Asians stopped and searched under counter-terror measures, and a 51 percent increase in blacks targeted under the same measures, reports the Daily Express.

According to the data compiled, Blacks in Britain were stopped and searched seven times more than whites in 2006.The rate was even more disproportionate than the previous year, when it stood at six times more likely.

The ministry data also claims that Asians were about twice as likely to be stopped and searched - about the same as the previous year.

The increase in the number of stops on ethnic minorities was partly explained by the police response to the July 7 bombings, the report said.

There were 878,153 stops and searches recorded by police in the year, up three percent on the previous 12 months.

Most of this rise was due to an extra 14,000 black people being targeted by stop and search - a 12 percent rise - and a 14 percent increase in the number of Asians targeted, it said.

However, a separate document also published by the Government on Tuesday gave the number of stops and searches under anti-terror powers as just over 50,000, rather than the 44,500 given in the first publication.

It revealed that those 50,000 stops led to just 563 arrests. (ANI)