ONE OF Lancashire’s best-known citizens will not now face court action over his benefit claims – and is in line to become mayor.

Charges against Salim Mulla, chairman of Lancashire Council of Mosques and a Blackburn with Darwen councillor, are set to be dropped.

The Lancashire Telegraph understands the court action has been replaced with an ‘administrative penalty’ and benefits of around £5,600 have been repaid.

Opposition councillors have expressed concern that he is set to be made deputy mayor at the annual council meeting on Thursday.

He would in turn become mayor next year.

But council leader Kate Hollern said there was ‘no reason’ not to allow his nomination if the court proceedings had ended.

Coun Mulla, who represents Blackburn’s Queen’s Park ward on the council, declined to comment, but he is believed to have assured fellow Labour councillors at a party meeting that the charges would be dropped.

Coun Hollern said: “The normal process for selecting deputy mayor is based on length of service, by the normal process Salim Mulla is next in line.

“However if there are circumstances which could cause any embarrassment to the office of mayor this process could be changed and enable the council not to support the nominee, and another nominee would be put forward.

"Given the circumstances that Salim has found himself in recently it was not appropriate to put his name forward at the time of the last council meeting.

“However, I have since received correspondence from Salim’s barrister which suggests that proceedings are to be discontinued due to a miscalculation from the Department for Work and Pensions office.

"I believe that confirmation of this discontinuation will be made public on May 16.

“If this indeed correct and Salim is no longer facing criminal prosecution there would be no reason not to allow his nomination to go forward.”

Coun Mulla had been charged with an alleged £34,961 benefit fraud.

He pleaded not guilty, and the case had already been adjourned in court five times.

The amount allegedly overpaid has now been reduced to around £5,600, which has been repaid plus a 30 per cent fine.

The DWP’s decision is believed to have been taken after evidence emerged of expenses that offset Coun Mulla’s council allowances.

An administrative penalty is one of three sanctions when someone is suspected of committing benefit fraud, along with a caution and prosecution.

It is effectively a fine and is set at 30 per cent of the amount of benefits that were overpaid.

The benefits must also be repaid in full.

Coun Michael Lee, the leader of the opposition Conservative group on the council, said: “The mayor is the number one citizen of the borough, and I don’t think it’s appropriate.

"He needs to be completely exonerated to be the mayor.

“He has to represent all the people in the borough, and if there is anything hanging over him, he should not be allowed to.”

This year’s mayor, Karimeh Foster, has already been voted into the role by councillors.

Paul Browne, a Liberal Democrat councillor and Darwen Mayor, said: “If this is true, Labour are going against all of their principles.