MUSLIMS in Clitheroe have passed the first hurdle in their new bid to build a mosque at the back of a town centre terrace house.

Clitheroe Town Council gave resubmitted plans to build the mosque at the back of an Islamic Education Centre in Holden Street approval by eight votes to two.

A Muslim spokesman today said he was hopeful the revised scheme, which limits worship at the mosque from 8am to 11pm, would now get the green light from Ribble Valley Council's planning and development committee next month.

But town and borough councillor Ian Brown, whose St Mary's ward includes Holden Street, said the Holden Street site was not the right place for a mosque.

And Holden Street residents, spearheaded by the Mearley Residents' Action Group, have vowed to fight the new scheme.

Clitheroe Town Council, which also backed a previous application for the site, was asked for its views on the plan by Ribble Valley Council, which will have the final say on the matter.

But Coun Brown, who voted against the plan, said: "I am not against a mosque in Clitheroe, but at the right place, and a terraced house in a busy street is far from ideal. This is a difficult situation."

Sheila Sims, chairman of the Mearley Residents' Association, said: "Yet again, we are faced with the prospect of a mosque at a totally unsuitable site, despite an earlier application being rejected on appeal by a planning inspector."

A four-year bid to build the mosque at the back of the Islamic Education Centre appeared to bite the dust in April when an appeal against refusal by Ribble Valley Council was dismissed by the Government's planning inspectorate.

Sheraz Arshad, of the Islamic Education Centre, said: "The Muslim community should not be made a scapegoat for traffic problems at the site and we have done our best to address the points raised by the planning inspector in relation to noise nuisance. "