CHILDREN as young as five are to be targeted with council cash to stop them falling prey to Islamic extremism and terrorism.

The cash will be used to reach Muslim youngsters "before they become vulnerable to radicalism" Wycombe District Council believes.

More than £425,000 has been handed to the council by the Government to "prevent violent extremism" through all ages in the community.

The Communities and Local Government department has told the council the £437,000 must be used in relation to Islam.

Fifteen out of 74 local authorities in the South East will get funding.

A senior council figure admits it has already led to Muslims feeling stigmatised after projects were funded for the first time last year.

Yet he said 99.9 per cent of the district's Muslims were peaceful - while a leading race relations figure welcomed the move.

Paul Hodson, community cohesion co-ordinator at Wycombe District Council, told a meeting of community leaders that ministers want the council to identify work for five to 15-year-olds.

He said: "We are not looking for the eight-year-olds who are considering atrocities. That is not the agenda - it is about prevention.

"What they are saying is it is much better to work with people at an age before they become vulnerable to radicalisation."

The schemes - which have yet to be announced - would look at their "values and theology" he said to "strengthen them so they are less vulnerable as they get older".

Yet Mr Hodson said: "I have had a lot of people from the Muslim community saying why are you stigmatising our community and pulling us out?' "And I have had other people from other communities saying why are you not giving money to us?'"

However, Mr Hodson said the Government had been quite clear that the money to tackle violent extremism has to be related to the Islam theology in some way.

There had been 38 applications for funding, he said.

Last year £79,500 was given to projects including Muslimah - Make A Difference, a scheme aimed at Muslim women which included a play about suicide bombings performed in schools.

The council has also been given £280,000 to promote community cohesion.

He was speaking at a seminar at Bucks New University on tackling extremism and promoting community cohesion.

Chauhdry Shafique, the university's director of equality and community cohesion, said the move was "absolutely spot on".

Mr Shafique, also chairman of the Wycombe based Council for Christian Muslim Relations, said: "It is the right emphasis. Starting at the younger ages is going to provide a more effective long-term solution."

The Muslim community was "largely a mystery" to the police before the terror arrests of August 2006, admitted Nick Cummings, community and diversity officer for Thames Valley Police.

Better contacts had been made he said.

"Hopefully the next three years will be considerably more positive than the previous three," he added.