Middlesbrough community plans new mosque after outgrowing site

Worshippers have been using the car park outside Central Masjid through the winter

A mosque where worshippers had to pray outside during winter due to a lack of space could be replaced by a larger site if plans are approved.

Central Masjid in Middlesbrough could be demolished to make way for a five-storey mosque, which would include a community centre and cafe.

Chairman Gohar Ihsan said the community had outgrown the existing building.

He said that if approved, the new site would be the "most productive mosque" in the whole of England.

Middlesbrough Council has received the plans, which also include the construction of three student flats and space for 21 cars, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

About 500 people currently worship at the mosque on Southfield Road, but only about half of them can fit inside at one time.

The new mosque is intended to cater for up to 1,000 worshippers.

Mr Ihsan previously said more people attended in summer and the car park had become "absolutely ram-packed".

"The mosque that we are building is not just a mosque," he said.

"The whole point of the development is there is a broader vision for a community hub.

He added that there was "nothing like this in the whole area and the North-East".

"It will be the most productive mosque in terms of delivery and interaction in the whole of the country," he said.