Thousands headed to violent extremism: British home secretary

British Home Secretary Theresa May Sunday warned that thousands of people living in Britain could be "on the path" to becoming violent radicals and terrorists.

The warning by the home secretary came as she confirmed a fresh crackdown on extremist groups who could be a threat to national security and revealed that around 500 police and security officers were working on the "horrific murder" of soldier Lee Rigby, Daily Mail reported.

She said that despite more arrests linked to the killing overnight, "all the indications" pointed to a lone-wolf-style incident rather than a wider planned operation.

When asked if there were thousands at risk of radicalisation in Britain, May replied "potentially". "We have people at different points on what could be the path to violent extremism."

May also suggested that a lower limit for imposing banning orders on extremist groups could be introduced.

During her interview to BBC, she said: "We do need to look at the powers, we do need to look at the laws.

"We do need to look, for example, at the question of whether perhaps we need to have banning orders to ban organisations that don't meet the threshold for proscription."

The British home secretary said tighter rules could also be imposed on internet service providers.

"One of the issues we need to look at is whether we have got the right processes, the right rules in place in relation to what is being beamed into people's homes."