Action has been taken against an alleged Islamist terror plot in the UK that could have happened at Christmas, counter terrorism sources say.

Four men were arrested early on Tuesday in South Yorkshire and Derbyshire.

An Army bomb disposal team cordoned off a street in Chesterfield where a 31-year-old man was arrested. Nearby homes were evacuated.

Three other men aged 22, 36 and 41 were arrested in the Burngreave and Meersbrook areas of Sheffield.

All four suspects were detained on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

They have been taken to a police station in West Yorkshire for questioning. The cordon in Chesterfield was later lifted.

Media captionElizabeth Fogarty lives on the street where a raid by police took place this morning

The cordon around one of the properties – the Fatima community centre on Brunswick Road in Burngreave – was extended on Tuesday afternoon and the bomb disposal unit attended.

A large number of police vehicles and officers were outside the two-storey building. The main door appeared to be broken on the ground.

Five raids at houses took place on Tuesday at:

Shirebrook Road in Meersbrook, Sheffield

two addresses in Burngreave, Sheffield – including Fatima Community Centre on Brunswick Road

a house on King Street North in Chesterfield

an address in Stocksbridge

Four men were arrested – all at their home addresses.

one in Chesterfield

two in Burngreave

one in Meersbrook

At 21:30 GMT, police said searches had been stood down for the evening but would resume at the scenes in Burngreave and Chesterfield in the morning.

A neighbour in Shirebrook Road, Sheffield, reported hearing “an enormous bang” as one of the raids took place at 05:30.

Carol Perry, who lives two doors from the scene, said: “I was asleep and then I was woken suddenly… and the house shook.

“My immediate thought was that it was an earthquake.”