COUNCIL officers have recommended that plans to create the first mosque in the Ribble Valley are approved.

Clitheroe's Muslim leaders have welcomed the officers' advice ahead of the final decision by councillors on Thursday at a planning committee meeting.

Plans to convert a former methodist church in Lowergate, Clitheroe, are the latest stage in a 30-year saga surrounding proposals for an Islamic faith centre.

And previous proposals for a mosque have also been recommended for approval by planning officers, only to be later refused by councillors.

The report states that "planning permission be granted" as long as certain conditions are adhered to.

These include preventing access to the car park between 11pm and 8am, having no call to prayer or amplified music within the premises at any time and ensuring that no one can access to the building between 11pm and 7am.

Those behind the planning application, which would create a centre of worship for the town's 300-strong Muslim community, welcomed the reporter.

Farouk Hussain, chairman of the Medina Islamic Centre which is behind the plans, said they were happy to go along with the proposed conditions as long as it meant they received the planning green light.

He said: "We are very hopeful on this occasion.

"We hope that councillors realise that this is the best site for a place of worship in the town and ignore the emotion and hysteria surrounding the proposal.

"We hope they judge it on planning criteria only.

"However, on previous occasions the planning officer has approved other sites only for the council to turn it down at the final stage.

"So we just hope this time it is approved and gives the community a place of worship."

If the plans are approved, the three-storey building would see the ground floor converted in to a general meeting place while the middle level will become a place of prayer.