Trustees of the Masjid-e-Salaam mosque in Watling Street Road, Fulwood, Preston, are looking for land near to the present location to expand on-site car parking for the proposed new mosque.

Parking was highlighted as the major sticking point by Preston Council's planning committee when it deferred an application to demolish the existing mosque and replace it with a purpose-built facility at a bad-tempered meeting last month.

Trustee Faisal Mansoor said highways officials from the council and Lancashire County Council had visited the mosque at peak prayer times and reported there were no problems.

He said: "We feel we have done everything we can and at this stage we are looking to buy land around the mosque if and when it turns up.

"The problem is that at the moment we are restricted to the car parking we have within the boundaries of the mosque.

"We have split Jumma prayer times on a Friday afternoon, introduced stewards to get rid of parking problems at peak times and have overspill parking across the road at the Preston Business Centre, so what more can we do?"

The current plans for the mosque, which are due to come back before the committee in the next few months, would accommodate 130 worshippers.

Mr Mansoor said the parking proposed in the latest plans would accommodate such numbers, but admitted that the mosque may have to take steps if the mosque congregation grew.

He said: "It is not the case that we are suddenly going to get an influx of new people because the facilities are improved, there are plenty of other excellent mosques in Preston.

"We are catering for the families who live in Fulwood and if the community using the mosque grows we will look at the situation."

The planning committee voted to defer the plans to look again at the parking issues despite an officers' report recommending they were approved, with a legal agreement put in place to tackle traffic problems on the busy road.

>> Anger over decision to defer new mosque plan

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