'Poppy terror plot': Three men were planning to behead member of public court hears

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Three men have been charged with terrorism offence over an alleged plot to behead a member of public.

Nadir Ali Sayed, 21, his cousin Yousaf Shah Syed, 19, and Haseeb Hamayoon, 27, were charged with preparing to commit acts of terrorism on the final day that they could be held under terrorism legislation.

The trio were arrested in London and High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire on 6 November - three days before Remembrance Sunday.

They appeared in court on Thursday, charged with preparing to commit acts of terrorism.

The men were remanded in custody to appear at London's Old Bailey court on 4 December.

A fourth man, arrested in Uxbridge, west London, was released on Saturday with no further action against him, BBC News reported.

The alleged exact terrorism offences have not been outlined, though police have described the men as being “jointly engaged” in preparing to commit acts of terrorism.

The men were arrested as part of the Metropolitan Police’s “on-going investigation into Islamist related terrorism,” in which counter-terrorism police acted on intelligence of the MI5.

In recent months, British police have made a series of arrests since the UK’s international terrorism threat level was raised to the second-highest rating of “severe,” meaning an attack is considered highly likely.

Prime Minister David Cameron has also warned that Islamic State militants who have seized swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq, pose a serious threat to Britain's national security.