Former pub could become a mosque

A former Nottingham pub could get a new lease of life - as a mosque.

The Jamiat Ahle Hadith group has paid about £350,000 for the old Boulevard pub on Alfreton Road and has started using it for worship.

The building, erected in the 1890s, is being redeveloped although it has yet to receive planning permission.

Nottingham City Council said it had received complaints about an increase in traffic since Jamiat Ahle Hadith started to use it for daily prayers.

Alcohol question

The authority said there was an issue with parking which needed to be addressed before planning consent could be given.

Mohammed Yousif, who submitted the application on behalf of Jamiat Ahle Hadith, said the idea of turning a bar into a place of worship was not new.

"It's new to Nottingham that a pub has been turned into a masjid (place of worship) but in terms of the Muslim community we have already turned cinemas in the UK into masjids and there may be a lot of pubs outside Nottingham.

"It's not against Islam. The only thing that we're prohibited from doing is drinking alcohol. Turning a space that was used for alcohol into a place for prayer - there is no prohibition in that."