Two Bradford brothers charged with terrorism offences were described by neighbours yesterday as religious and respectful men.

Saeed Muhammed Ahmed, 20, and 19-year-old Naeem Muhammed Ahmed are charged with a total of 11 offences under Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000. They are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court later this month.

They were arrested in Little Horton on September 19 at a residential address following a pre-planned intelligence-led operation by detectives from the North East Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU).

Saeed Muhammed Ahmed is charged with seven offences of collecting records of information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, contrary to section 58 (1)(a) of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Naeem Muhammed Ahmed, 19, is charged with four offences under section 58 (1)(a).

The pair, believed to be brothers, were described by one resident, Wajid Hussain, as deeply religious.

He said he saw plain clothes police search the brothers’ house a month ago.

“They are only young kids,” he said. “They are very religious people and pray five times a day. They have lived around here for years and I just can’t believe it.

“This is a big shock as this is a very quiet street. They only go to the mosque and home – you never see them. It is very rare to see them outside.”

Due to the nature of the investigation, police have also not released details of the street they were arrested in.

But it has been stressed that there was no risk to public safety before the pair were captured.

Another neighbour, who declined to be named, said that he had seen lots of police in the area weeks before.

“I didn’t know what had happened but had seen them being arrested,” he said.

“This has really shocked me as they are devout Muslims.”

Searches of the properties where they were arrested were conducted and items were seized.

When the pair were arrested, they were taken to a local police station in Bradford and charged, before being released on bail.

Following the arrests, a 16-year-old male from the Little Horton area has been bailed pending further enquiries.

A spokesman for the North East CTU said: “These charges follow a pre-planned operation by the North East CTU. We would like to reassure people that there is nothing to suggest a risk to any community in connection with this investigation.”

After news of the arrests, councillors, including Respect Councillor Alyas Karmani for Little Horton, spoke out.

Coun Karmani said: “We need to wait until more facts emerge about these two individuals.

“But as a Council I don’t think we are being proactive enough to engage young people who are at risk of extremism.”

Labour Coun Nazam Azam, for the City ward, said: “I would like to reassure the public that there is nothing to suggest that anybody was in harm’s way.”