CONTROVERSIAL plans to turn a former pub into an Islamic education centre and mosque in Darwen have been passed despite thousands of objections.

The application from Manir Ahmed will transform the former Railway pub into a place of worship to ‘meet the needs’ of the town’s ‘growing’ Muslim community.

It initially attracted more than 200 letters of objection and an online petition against the plans was signed by more than 2,000 people.

An amended application for the Railway Road building, which received 27 objections, was debated by Blackburn with Darwen Council’s planning and highways committee on Thursday evening and was passed by 11 votes to four.

A number of councillors said the amended plans, which proposed to have the entrance at the rear instead of the front, improved the application.

Committee member Cllr Jane Oates said: “This has been empty for around eight years this building and has been quite a blight in Railway Road.

“The issue of traffic did concern me initially but I am pleased to see the entrance is now at the rear.

“It is a much more low key application.”

The changed plan included a reduction in the number of classes from six to three, and a decrease in students from a previously proposed 147 to 15 students per class.

The main prayer hall will be on the ground floor accommodating a maximum of 128 worshippers and three classrooms on the first floor housing around 42 children.

However committee member Cllr Jackie Slater said it was ‘nonsense to even consider’ the plan.

She said: “I am very worried about this application because of where it is situated.

“One of the nearby businesses is a bakery and they have a lorry going down Railway Road for deliveries.

“The railway station car park is always full as well.

“It’s in the wrong place and for that reason I just think its a nonsense to even consider it.”

The proposed operating hours are Monday to Saturday from 6am to 11.30pm and Sundays 10am to 11.30pm.

Cllr Dave Smith, committee chairman, told the meeting that despite concerns being raised about car parking for worshippers, Knott Street car park behind the building had around 80 spaces and he ‘could not see it being a problem.’ Darwen already has one Islamic place of worship but the people behind the application said that due to a rise in the number of workers, a second one was needed.