By Jenny Matthews BBC News Online in Finsbury Park

Finsbury Park mosque is a three-storey modern brick building which nestles between quiet Victorian terraces and low rise tower blocks.

It has a reputation as a hotbed of extremism, and is just a stone's throw from the busy and, as locals described it, sometimes "dangerous" north London artery of Seven Sisters Road.

But residents say the mosque and its immediate surrounds are usually very quiet - and they were quite surprised by the raid.

"It's no problem at all. It gets very busy on Fridays with all the worshippers but usually it's quite quiet," said one man who lived nearby.

Some of the people from the mosque come in here and they're really nice Local caf� worker

"It's no problem at all - actually, I hadn't even realised it was a mosque," said another woman.

Other residents were startled to be woken at 0230 GMT by the sounds of a police raid and what they thought was the mosque door breaking open.

Local civil servant Matt Newman was awoken by what he assumed was a battering ram which "sounded like a train".

"Before that there were about four people shouting in a foreign language but that's pretty normal around here - shouting," he said.

Another resident, who did not want to be named, said: "I was up at the time. I saw loads of police going in - they very quickly cordoned off the area and had a couple of armed units walking around the outer perimeter to make sure people knew this was a major incident," he said.

Locals were awoken by the sound of helicopters and battering rams

He welcomed the action against the mosque, at which controversial radical cleric Sheikh Abu Hamza preaches.

"As a mosque being here I've got no problems, but I do have a problem when people start speaking against this country... preaching against other countries, inciting trouble," he said.

"OK, this is a democratic country, everyone is allowed to voice their opinion - but how can you say 11 September was justified? How can you say every single Jew is a moving target?

"As soon as you say things like that... they've got no right to be able to speak."

All the police activity alarmed me but at the same time it's good to see the police and security services seem to be on top of it all Local resident Keith Douglas

Other locals were undecided whether the raid was a welcome development or not.

"Whenever anything does kick off around here it always seems to be connected to that mosque", said one caf� worker.

"But I hope they don't start targeting everything round here. Some of the people from the mosque come in here and they're really nice.

"And I hope people don't start getting attacked just because they're Algerian. I feel sorry for the normal Algerians, trying to get jobs and housing - it must be really difficult at the moment."

Many residents felt it was inevitable that the mosque would attract police attention, following the nearby Wood Green raid where ricin poison was found.

"As soon as I heard about that I thought this would be linked," said local optometrist Harry Green, 71.

This mosque has a bad reputation and gives Finsbury Park a bad reputation Local optometrist Harry Green

"This mosque has been the centre of quite a lot of local interest and concern.

"People thought it was only a matter of time before something happened here but I was shocked to hear about what has happened this morning," said local councillor Ann Heyno, 60.

Medical laboratory scientist Faraj, 45, hoped Abu Hamza - not one of the seven people arrested in the raid - would nonetheless be removed from his position.

"We don't need him, bringing propaganda and hatred on our doorstep. I didn't like it, we don't need that on our doorstep, or on the streets of London."

Mr Green agreed: "If it was just a normal mosque it would be a good thing it was here, but this one is quite notorious - it has a bad reputation and gives Finsbury Park a bad reputation."

Local resident Keith Douglas, 33, said the raid was both frightening and reassuring.

"All the police activity alarmed me, but at the same time it's good to see the police and security services seem to be on top of it all."

But local worker John Webber, 58, felt the raid was part of a propaganda drive generated by authorities gearing up for war with Iraq.

"A lot of this is manufactured by the government - they're after the Arab oil", he said.