Police attended Chester Mosque at Friday prayers today (October 7) following a heated argument at the same time last week.

Officers agreed to provide a reassuring presence outside the place of worship in Clifton Drive, Blacon , this afternoon at the request of mosque trustees following a volatile atmosphere prior to the previous Friday prayers.

There is believed to have been a disagreement over the running of the mosque with scenes captured inside on mobile phones revealing raised voices, finger-pointing and a degree of pushing and shoving although nobody was injured.

Police, who were on standby outside following a tip-off, were forced to enter in a bid to calm the situation. However, there were no arrests.

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This week police met with Muslim leaders to ensure there would be no repetition.

Officers also attended a community meeting at the mosque yesterday (Thursday) which had been due to discuss the way forward but this discussion was postponed on police advice to allow the dust to settle. The meeting will be reconvened in a couple of weeks’ time.

Inspector Paul Loughlin, of Cheshire Police , said: “At the request of members of the mosque, police attended yesterday to read out the agreement that the community members present at the meeting on Wednesday came up with. A meeting to discuss this is set to go ahead in the near future.

“Trustees have asked local officers to provide a presence at the mosque for Friday prayers today to provide reassurance to members.”

Police attended the mosque in Blacon to coincide with Friday prayers in agreement with the Muslim community.

Many members of the Muslim community have expressed embarrassment at what happened in their place of worship.

People attending today’s ceremony insisted there would be no repeat of last week’s incident.

Earlier this week, Abdun Noor, owner of the Chester Tandoori restaurant, said the row erupted as he was about make an announcement over the microphone. Mr Noor said he had been asked to call a meeting in a bid to form a new management committee and constitution.

He said: “Like every other community we have arguments from time to time. Somebody called the police because there were so many people in the mosque. There was no fight. It was just an argument. We have never had anything like that before. It’s really, really sad the police had to come.”

Mr Noor does not wish to comment further at the moment.

Police attended the mosque in Blacon to coincide with Friday prayers in agreement with the Muslim community.