A "SUPER mosque’’ for up to 2,500 worshippers could be up and running in Hyndburn within three years if it gains council approval.

A public consultation on three options for the regeneration of the Frederick Street, Portland Street and Steiner Street area of West Accrington, bounded by Hyndburn Road, ended last month and backers are hopeful that a purpose-built mosque, costing up to £4M, will be the winner.

Accrington’s two current mosques on Blackburn Road and Grimshaw Street may be closed if the new mosque, which would occupy a two-acre site along with a multicultural community centre, goes ahead.

The site is being cleared as part of the Elevate regeneration programme, with some 60 homes being compulsorily purchased.

Apart from a mosque, which could include an underground car park, the two other regeneration options proposed are a park or new, high-quality housing.

A decision is expected at the next Hyndburn Council Cabi-net meeting.

Public consultation meetings have previously been held at the Portland Street Comm-unity Centre and at the Acorn Health Centre.

Property developer and West Accrington Residents’ Association chairman Tariq Ali, who is behind the scheme, outlined plans to build an "impressive, state-of-the-art" mosque to replace the existing mosques.

He said: "Those mosques are just not big enough. We want to make the new mosque really distinctive and something people can be proud of.

In Central ward we don’t have a community centre and we would want a multicultural community centre on the site available for all religions and faiths."

He added: "We would raise the money from the community – we haven’t asked for anything from the council. All mosques are built on donations."

Councillor Mohammed Ayub said: "It’s going to be a big central mosque where people can go to pray.

"If you travel to Blackburn or the surrounding towns they’ve all got purpose-built mosques. Parking is the main issue. If they don’t get parking they’re not going to get planning permission."

Peter Hayes, of Dale Street, has concerns over access and its impact on traffic on Hynd-burn Road, as well as a perceived lack of consultation.

He added: "No-one seems to know anything about it and if you want to object, how can you? Is it going to be good for the town to have a state-of-the-art mosque?"

Campaigner Emma Walker questioned whether the location of the super mosque would put the town "on a par" with the likes of Bradford, Burnley and Oldham.

But Mr Ali said: "We have looked at a few parking sche-mes, but are waiting to get the consultation results in favour of the mosque first.

"It has been discussed at many residents’ meetings and the consultation has been going on for more than a year."