POLICE have made an arrest over the dumping of two pigs heads at an Islamic girls school in December.

The incident at the Markazul Uloom Girls School in Park Lee Road, Blackburn sparked a' hate crime investigation'.

It outraged religious, political and community leaders led by Bishop of Blackburn Julian Henderson.

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A Lancashire police spokeswoman said today: "I can confirm that a 28-year-old man from Darwen has been arrested on suspicion of racially-aggravated provocation and has been bailed until February 16."

The pig heads, particularly offensive to Muslims to whom pork is an 'impure' meat, were left at the gates of the school just before Christmas.

The previous week graffiti painted on the school wall reading 'no mosque' had to be removed.

Police said at the time that one pig's head was found at the school gates and the other thrown over them.

Officers began an investigation and treated the incident as a 'possibly racially or religiously motivated' crime.

Extra patrols were brought in by police to reassure alarmed residents as officers appealed for help to catch those responsible.

The incident followed a controversial planning application been submitted to build a mosque with dome and minarets, at the school which has generated an online protest petition with almost 2,000 signatures.

Bishop Julian Henderson said the incident was 'abhorrent' and 'shocking'.

He was joined in his condemnation by the Dean of Blackburn Christopher Armstrong, the town's MP Kate Hollern, and the chair of Lancashire's Council of Mosques Abdul Hamid Qureshi.

Leaders of the protest petition over the Mosque plan also condemned the dumping.