THE legal fallout from one of the region's biggest anti-terrorist swoop increased last night when it was discovered that eight people are suing police over the operation.

Durham and Cleveland police forces are being taken to court over controversial Operation Icebolt, which resulted in six men from County Durham and Teesside being arrested on suspicion of terrorist activity.

They were suspected of handling guns, grenades and suicide bomb material for use in terrorist attacks abroad.

Five of the men, who were taken from their homes by armed police in a series of dawn raids in January, have started legal moves in a bid to clear their names.

In addition, an allegation of assault is being made by 14-year-old Jamie Mohammed, son of one of the arrested men - Omar Mohammed, of Coulby Newham, near Middlesbrough.

Mr Mohammed, 44, and his wife, Tina, are suing Cleveland Police for false imprisonment and trespass.

The family allege that Jamie was strip-searched by police officers during the raid on their home.

Mother-of-three Mrs Mohammed, who was separated from her husband for four days, says she was ordered to remain seated on the staircase for seven hours while forensic teams carried out a search of the home.

The couple's children, Samiah, eight, who has special needs, Aeisha, 11, and older brother Jamie, were taken to school after police raided the house at 7am, but they were not allowed back again, and had to sleep with a relative and neighbours.

All the six men arrested - including businessman Majid Mousa, 44, of Middlesbrough, who has decided against suing the police - were released without charge.

Speaking exclusively to The Northern Echo last night, Mr Mohammed said: "The family was completely devastated by it all.

"Even now, six months on, the police have revealed no evidence to our solicitors. They just keep saying Operation Icebolt is ongoing.

"It is absolutely ridiculous. When they raided my home they did not even know my name, they just shouted 'Do any Arabs live here?'.

"They held me for four days at Stockton police station, but in that time they only interviewed me for three-and-a-half hours and that was about my background, wanting to know how I met my wife and when I came to England.

"The day after I was arrested they claimed that I was being passed guns and grenades that we had imported and we would then send abroad. It's just ridiculous."

Mr Mohammed added: "My son was strip-searched and they did not want my wife to be present when they did that.

"She was told to sit on the stairs for seven hours and was then confined to the kitchen.

"They can't keep investigating us for the rest of our lives. When is it going to end?

"We all want our names cleared. It is deeply distressing."

It was previously only known that Mr Mohammed, Mousa Mohamad, of Darlington, and Walid Zamzam, of Seaton Carew, had lodged legal claims with the two police forces.

Mr Zamzam says he was distressed by the ordeal and suffered depression and flashbacks after he was released.

But it was revealed last night that, as well as the Mohammeds, Ibrahim Rachid and Salah Famtazi, both of Darlington, are suing Durham Police for false imprisonment and trespass.

Mr Zamzam's landlord, Salid Ramathan, who owns the flat above a kebab shop in Seaton Carew that was raided, is also suing for trespass.

Solicitor Scott Taylor, of Watson Woodhouse, is representing Mr Zamzam and the Mohammeds.

He said: "We have spoken to the police and have agreed to give them more time to reply. They now have eight claims submitted to them and wanted more time to respond to each one."

A spokesman for Durham Police said last night that he was unable to clarify if the other claims had been received but that Operation Icebolt was still ongoing.

He said: "We are still continuing investigations. As we have said all along, this would be a very focused and lengthy operation."

Nobody could be contacted at Cleveland Police to confirm whether the legal claims had been received.