The England badminton squad has pulled out of the World Championships in Hyderabad, India, over fears that an Islamic terrorist group behind an attack on Mumbai last year was planning to target the event.

Badminton England, the sport's national governing body, said that it was "not prepared to risk the safety of our players, coaches and staff" after the Times of India reported that the Lashkar-e-Taiba organisation was plotting a terrorist attack. Adrian Christy, chief executive of Badminton England, said: "We have carefully considered the comments made by the local police authorities and we know that they have the best interest of all competitors in mind. We have also listened to the advice from the Foreign Office and British High Commission.

"The conclusion is that safety is of paramount importance and therefore, with great regret, the team will be returning home immediately." Ian Moss, England's performance director, added: "This was a unanimous squad decision and is not reflective of the efforts made by the Organising Committee to create the safest environment possible for all athletes."

However, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) has expressed its disappointment at England's decision to withdraw, and stressed that adequate security measures are currently in place to ensure the safety of competitors at the six-day tournament. Thomas Lund, BWF chief operating officer said: "While the BWF respects the decision by England, it's unfortunate that the English team made their decision before we had an opportunity to properly brief the team management before they decided.

"Clearly perception plays an important role here, and members of the English team no doubt did not feel safe - but given the fact that the press report was based on false information and this had been confirmed by intelligence agencies and communicated, we obviously feel very sorry and disappointed about the decision." Badminton Scotland has confirmed that its two representatives at the tournament will compete as planned.