A stunning new mosque has held its grand opening to a rapturous reception from the community.

The Sughra Mosque, on Granville Street in Farnworth, welcomed community members, special guests and scholas to the opening event.

It marks the culmination of a decade’s jobs” work and has been one of Farnworth’s landmark projects.

Mosque President Haroon Rashid said: “It’s a total new rebuild, it had previously been an old factory building, but now it’s totally new.

It’s been sponsored by the local community here and we’ve managed to do it at half the budget. It’s now one of the biggest mosques in the North West and one of the most beautiful as well.”

Mr Rashid said that many younger people in the area had grown up with the project and seen it come to fruition over a ten-year period.

He said that people from across the community had come together over the years to make the much-anticipated project a reality.

Mr Rashid said: “We’ve all got together, it’s been a real community project and it’s involved all sections of the community as well.”

He said that the mosque had been working with local schools and was engaging with people from across the community.

The opening ceremony played host to various community members and scholars along with a host of councillors and dignitaries.

Cllr Nadeem Ayub, of Farnworth North, said: “The new Sughra Mosque build project has completed and it looks stunning both externally and internally.  This project is another landmark addition to Farnworth and compliments the regeneration at Farnworth Green.” 

Cllr Ayub attended the grand opening alongside Cllr Hamid Khurram, also of Farnworth North, Great Lever’s Cllr Mohammed Ayub and council deputy leader Cllr Akhtar Zaman.  

The plans had been in motion since 2014 when the proposal was put forward to demolish the old one storey building on Granville Street and replace it with a three-storey place of worship.

The old building has now been replaced by spectacular purpose-built architecture, while images from inside show stunning areas set aside for prayers and services. 

The proposal in 2014 also included an IT suite, library, classrooms and two ablution areas for washing.