'Mosque arson disgraceful but not surprising'

A car outside the mosque was burnt out in the suspected arson attack on Saturday

Residents of an East Sussex town where a mosque was set on fire have called the attack "disgraceful" and said it represented a wider problem across the UK.

Two people inside the mosque in Phyllis Avenue, Peacehaven, managed to escape after the front entrance and a car parked outside were set alight on Saturday.

Sir Keir Starmer's spokesperson said the incident, which police are treating as a hate crime, was "appalling" and that an attack on Muslims was an attack on all Britons.

With the car now removed and scorch marks on the ground in its place, the community has been rallying around after a traumatic weekend.

Khuram Kiani is a founding member of the mosque and has lived in the area for 30 years

Khuram Kiani, a founding member of the mosque, called it an "unfortunate, terrifying, shocking" event.

He said: "I've lived here for over 30 years [and] I've never seen such an incident.

"It's shocking for the whole community."

Mr Kiani said he met Chief Constable Jo Shiner earlier to discuss the investigation and to talk about how such incidents can be prevented in future.

He praised the work of the emergency services for their response and said the mosque would now be closed for children until their safety could be guaranteed.

Osman Shala, whose businesses is near the scene, was at the mosque supporting people from Saturday night until Monday

Osman Shala, owner of Performance Valeting in the same road as the mosque, said: "We had a call from the mosque manager. He said we are in trouble, we [have a] fire in the mosque. I got up from my bed and came to support them and I have been here since.

"The main thing is that no-one died. It could be much worse."

Mr Shala said he had been in the town for 11 years and had been running the car wash all that time.

"I love these people, I am very friendly with them and they are friendly with me," he said.

"It's the situation everywhere, you can see that, everywhere in the world, not just Peacehaven, but we hope it is getting better."

Peacehaven resident Brian Phoenix told BBC Radio Sussex that incidents such as these were rare in the area.

He said: "It's disgraceful. Peacehaven is supposed to be a safe place. It shouldn't have happened.

"The community has tried to rally round and hopefully it's something that doesn't happen again."

One resident, who wished to remain anonymous, added: "I'm surprised it happened in Peacehaven, but not that it happened in the UK.

"No-one should be doing stuff like that, it's not right."

One suspect was pictured wearing a distinctive black jacket with a white logo, while the other had on bright red gloves.

A fundraiser has been set up which the mosque said would help it to rebuild.

"We've built community here - youth activities, classes, community events - all run by volunteers who care about this town," a spokesperson from the mosque said.

"We've never had issues with anyone and we won't start now. This was a test and we'll rise from it.

"Your donation helps us repair the building, replace what's lost and protect the mosque so this never happens again."

Sussex Police has released CCTV footage of two people it wants to identify after the blaze.

As of 11:00 BST on Monday, the force said it had not yet made any arrests.