WORRIED residents believe a Kidderminster Islamic boarding school is building a mosque without the required planning permission.

Madinatul Uloom Islamic College has submitted a planning application to Wyre Forest District Council for retrospective permission for the part demolition of a building and construction of a new examination and lecture hall with recreational facilities in its place.

The £1.5million building – which is set to have a floor space of around 1750 square metres - is currently being constructed on the school’s 25 acre site off Heath Lane in Stone, while the application is set to be discussed by the council’s planning committee in January.

But comments made by the school on their Facebook page have referred to the building as a mosque/prayer hall, prompting concerns by neighbouring residents about the intended use and impact on the area. The Facebook page had been taken down in November before being reopened this week.

Yusuf Ibrahim Logat, a trustee at Madinatul Uloom, moved to reassure residents that they were not building a mosque and stressed it was a hall strictly for student and staff use only as they couldn’t allow members of the public to access the site at any time.

He added that the references to building a mosque or prayer hall was for fundraising and marketing purposes only.

A residents’ meeting was held at the Hare and Hounds pub last night (Wednesday, December 16) where people were encouraged to voice any concerns they might have to the council’s planning department before the December 24 deadline.

They have also agreed to commission an independent planning consultant to look into the application.

A spokesman for the residents’ group said: “There were a lot of people at the meeting as we are extremely worried about what is going on with this development.

“They say they are building a new exam and lecture hall but their Facebook page and website clearly referred to it firstly as a mosque and then a prayer room. They had then removed the page and the website.

“It is a very large building which, they started on their website, would be able to accommodate 3,000 people. The school only has around 230 pupils so why would they need something so big if it’s just for them?

“If this is used as a general mosque, there would be a major impact on our area in terms of traffic and noise. It is also on green belt land.

“We understand the school needs a prayer room and there would not be an issue if it was a small development. But we believe they are building this and will then apply for retrospective change of use to a mosque at a later date.”

Mr Logat said: “Our current project to build a modern multi-functional hall is suited for lectures, examinations, assemblies and other recreational activities.

“We inherited many old and derelict buildings built many decades ago that are not fit for purpose and for this reason we aspire, as other schools, to provide modern facilities and better educational needs for our young pupils.

“The school also understands its obligations as an Ofsted registered school, and therefore restricts all public access to its premises to maintain child safety regulations. The hall will be strictly for student and staff use only.

“We referred to it as a mosque and ‘Musalla’, which means prayer mat or area, for fundraising and marketing purposes. Our community places great importance on donating to charitable causes and would want to ensure this element is including in our project.

“When it is time for prayers, our students and staff will pray in this area but that is all. Under no circumstances will there be thousands of people congregating at this school except once or twice a year when we hold our annual graduation ceremonies or open days.”

A Wyre Forest District Council spokesman said: “The College has reiterated that the application, as submitted is for a multi-functional lecture and exam hall.”

The application can be viewed on Wyre Forest District Council’s planning website via the reference number 15/0578/FULL.