WORK has begun on a new 'flagship' mosque on Blackburn Road, with developers revealing images of what the new building will look like.

The Taiyabah Islamic Centre is situated on land next to the current Taiyabah mosque, which was first established back in 1967 but is now running at maximum capacity.

The new purpose-built facility will serve over 1,500 worshippers and include 18 classrooms for children’s education and to host community programmes. The scheme also incorporates a mortuary for funeral services.

David Cox, from Preston based firm David Cox Architects, said the design of the new building had been developed after working with the community.

He said: "Community involvement was key to unlocking this architectural solution and we attended various open days and study trips to really shape the scheme into what was required.

"The resulting design focuses on flow and simple, yet inspiring, spaces with an impressive frontage on a very busy road in Bolton."

Inayat Omarji, one of the Taiyabah project leaders, added: “It was always an aspiration to create our own flagship development in the heart of our community in the Crompton ward of Bolton.

"The team at David Cox Architects showed a thoughtful understanding of Islamic architecture and their willingness to listen closely to the requirements of the community resulted in a design which has exceeded our expectations. We are now focussed on progressing with stage one of the construction phase."

The main contractor on the project is Brook Williams Group and the initial construction of the mosque has now begun.