CCTV footage has been released of a burglar who raided a mosque and stole hundreds of pounds of goods.

Police were called to Didsbury Street, Blackburn, following reports of a burglary at Masjid e Saliheen, which took place at around 6.30am on Saturday.

The thief is thought to have picked a lock attached to the main gate at the site before getting into the main building.

He then raided offices, before stealing a £400 laptop and just under £100 in cash.

The property, which is undergoing a £150,000 renovation, also sustained damage during the raid.

The building, which has room for up to 1,000 worshippers, is made up of three wings and includes a partition door to the main wing of the mosque and a staircase to the evening supplementary school and a third vacant wing.

Audley resident Samir Khan, 23, who is part of the management team at the mosque, said: “I found out about the break in at 1.30pm on Saturday because I hold a youth club at the mosque then.

“I came into set up and just realised that something was not right. At the time I thought ‘oh my God, what has been taken?’.

“We are a charity at the end of the day and a lot of things have been donated to us.

“I was the first to notice the laptop had been taken and it was a very distressing feeling.”

Crime scene investigators visited the site and could be seen checking for footprints and fingerprints in an attempt to identify the suspect.

Bosses at Masjid e Saliheen have called on witnesses to come forward as they try to find the thieves and they have posted CCTV images and videos of the incident as part of an online public appeal.

The chairman of Lancashire Council of Mosques, Abdul Qureshi, described the mosque burglary as part of a ‘worrying’ trend.

Mr Qureshi said: “We have given instructions not to leave any cash in mosques or anything valuable that thieves could take. And we ask people to be more cautious.

“This place has been broken into many times and I’m going to meet committee members and ask them why this has happened so often.

“It’s becoming part of a worrying trend. There should be better protection to stop this happening.”

Anyone who has any information can contact the police on 101 referencing log number ED1813107.