Neighbours of Cambridge’s main mosque claim they have been threatened by worshippers when they complain about noise and illegal parking.
Residents said the impact of the Mawson Road mosque had become “intolerable” and warned large crowds that gathered outside were “intimidating”, calling on Islamic leaders to police their congregation.
The two sides went head-to-head at a summit at the Guildhall yesterday over the future of an assembly room at the back of the mosque, which has been operating without planning permission for a year.
Residents said the use of the building fronting on to Tenison Road at Friday prayers virtually doubled the capacity of the mosque to nearly 500 – but an imam warned that worshippers would spill on to the street if the space could not be used.
Concerns focused on parking on double yellow lines outside the mosque, noise from the PA system, and noise made by worshippers as they left.
Dr Alexandra Winkels, who lives a few doors away from the mosque in Mawson Road, said the noise had forced her to move bedroom.
She said residents felt “threatened and intimidated by the large crowds that gather on Fridays and during Ramadan” and that when she had spoken directly to worshippers she had been met with “verbal abuse and derision”.
She said: “At one point someone threatened to smash my window in if I didn’t back off.
“I really love living near the mosque, it’s a reflection of the diversity of the Mill Road area, but over the last six years there has been an increasing number of worshippers.
“It has increased to such a level the noise and disturbance has become intolerable to the local community.”
The Tenison Road building was used without planning permission from October 2006 to May2008, when the latest permission was approved.
Dr Corinne Duhig, vice-chairman of the Glisson Road/Tenison Road Area Residents’ Association, said the mosque had been making more effort to encourage worshippers to park responsibly in recent months but that this was “too little, too late”.
She said: “It’s led to some acts of aggression which is particularly distressing.”
Imam Sejad Mekic said use of the PA system was vital to allow everyone to hear but said it was kept on low volume at night.
He said: “It’s an extremely important issue for us to be kind to our neighbours, to show in practice what a Muslim is supposed to be, and to have a good relationship with people around us.
“We constantly remind our people to be kind to our neighbours but we are not in full control to make sure everybody is going to park legally and everybody is going to leave the mosque quietly.”
Planning permission has been granted for a new mosque on the former Robert Sayle warehouse site in Mill Road, and completion of this would end the use of the Tenison Road extension, but it is not expected to be finished for several years.
A retrospective application to continue use of the Tenison Road site on Fridays and during Ramadan will be considered by the east area committee at a later date.