Sikh temple begins to take shape

Architect Teja Singh Biring said he was "overjoyed" with the temple

Building work on what will eventually be one of the largest Sikh temples in the UK has reached a key stage.

The outer structure of the gurdwara in Gravesend, Kent, has been completed, three years after work started.

Work on the £9m project, funded entirely by the local community and partly built by volunteers, is due to be completely finished in 2008.

Architect Teja Singh Biring said as a local man and a Sikh he was "overjoyed" to see it taking shape.

He said: "You won't have another building like it, it will be one of the milestones for the South East.

"Hopefully it will draw people in and encourage people to say Sikhs have got something and communities can build things.

"I'm overjoyed in the sense that I'm a local man, I'm a Sikh and I'm involved in something like this being an architect - it's once in a lifetime."