GOVERNMENT inspectors have thrown out an appeal by Muslims in Clitheroe for permission to build a mosque in the town.

Members of the small Muslim community in the Ribble Valley launched their appeal after planning councillors refused permission last August.

The refusal was the fourth time the scheme, behind a terrace house in Holden Street, Clitheroe, had been given the thumbs down.

The building is currently used as an Islamic Education centre, and the mosque would have been attached behind it.

Ribble Valley Council has now been informed that the planning inspector looking at the appeal has backed the councillors' decision.

Ribble Valley Borough Council development control manager John Macholc said: "We recognise the importance of a local mosque,

"But once again the Planning Inspectorate has decided that Holden Street in Clitheroe is an unsuitable site for it.

"We will continue to work with the Muslim community to find a suitable site for this development."

When the application was presented to the planning committee last year, officers had urged councillors to give it their backing, with restricted opening times.

But councillors went along with the 120 letters of complaint sent in by local people about the disruption they thought it would cause to the local area, mainly from traffic.

Members of the local Muslim community had pointed out that the Mosque would only be used by 15 worshippers.

They later accused councillors of turning the planning application into a political football after councillors voted along party lines, with Conservatives refusing to back it.

Residents in the Holden Street area also accused the council of not doing enough to find an alternative site for the mosque.

Schemes in 1998, 2000 and 2002 were also refused on the grounds of traffic and noise disturbance, the latter decision being upheld on appeal by a Government planning inspector.

Muslim community spokesman Sheraz Arshad was today unavailable for comment.