A man has appeared in court after searches in the Luton area, charged with planning a terrorist attack on American military personnel in Britain.

Junead Ahmed Khan, 24, is accused of intending to commit terrorist acts.

He appeared in court alongside his uncle Shazib Ahmed Khan, 22, with whom he is jointly charged with an offence of planning to travel to Syria to join Islamic State (IS) - also known as Isil.

It is alleged that between August 1 2014 and May 10 2015 with the “intention of committing acts of terrorism, they engaged in conduct in preparation for giving effect to that intention”.

Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard that in preparation for alleged travel to Syria, the men looked into buying combat wear.

Junead Ahmed Khan faces an additional count contrary to section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006 dating between May 10 2015 and July 14 2015.

It is alleged that he planned to stage a car accident and run over a serviceman.

The nephew and uncle were remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on August 10.

Deborah Walsh, deputy head of counter-terrorism at the Crown Prosecution Service, said the charges follow an investigation by Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command.

She said: “It is alleged that Junead Khan and Shazib Khan had been planning on travelling to Syria to join the proscribed organisation Islamic State in Levant (Isil).

“It is further alleged that Junead Khan was planning a terrorist attack on US military personnel in the UK and he has been charged with an additional terrorism offence to reflect this.

“The decision to prosecute was taken in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors.”

Both bearded men were arrested a week ago in an operation involving officers from the national counter-terrorism network.

Another man, in his 30s, was also detained. He was released without charge.

Searches were carried out at two addresses in the Luton area. Scotland Yard said the activity was part of an ongoing investigation into Islamist-related terrorism.

The charges do not state which base or airfields were being targeted by Khan.

• A planned July 4 Independence Day celebration event at RAF Feltwell was cancelled due to a terror threat earlier this month. The EDP reported on Saturday that three people were arrested last Tuesday following the cancellation.

The move affected plans by staff at several sites, including RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall, and although details were not given at the time a spokesman described the threats as “local”.