MOSQUE leaders are celebrating a £1.5million windfall after their ambitious rebuilding scheme was adopted by the royal family of Qatar.

The money, pledged by Emir His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, has provided a vital boost to £3million plans to replace the outdated worship centre in Bicknell Street, Blackburn.

The Emir, the head of the family and billionaire ruler of the Gulf state, agreed to make the donation following a chance meeting with Lord Patel of Blackburn.

Work on the mosque has already begun after the community raised £900,000 towards the project.

The new multi-purpose building will replace the current Masjid e Tauheedul Mosque and adjacent Islam Girls' High School and is due to be completed by the end of next year.

The mosque board of members has been planning the new five-storey building for years to replace the 19th century building it has inhabited for 30 years.

The offer came after Lord Adam Patel, chairman of the mosque board, visited Qatar three months ago.

Lord Patel, who represents Blackburn at Westminster, said: "I visited the Emir and his wife when they held a conference I was invited to.

"They are really courteous and down-to-earth people, and we asked if a donation was possible for our new multi-purpose building. We were delighted when they very generously promised to donate £1.5million towards the project."

Work has already begun to demolish the old building, and the basic framework for the new centre is almost complete, with plans to start on the brickwork soon. The main prayer hall will be on the ground floor, with classrooms, IT facilities and library on the upper two floors.

The mosque will house the mosque and act as a base for Muslim community and youth groups, as well as a temporary new home for the Tauheedul Islam Girls' High School.

A permanent location for the school, which became only the UK's sixth state-funded Islamic school when it re-opened last year, is currently subject to consultation under Blackburn with Darwen Council's Building Schools for the Future programme.

As part of the borough-wide education shake-up, the council has proposed to move Tauheedul to the site currently occupied by Beardwood School in Preston New Road, which is earmarked for closure. The move would allow Tauheedul to double its pupil roll to 600.

The Qatari Ambassador to the UK, Khalid Al-Hamouri Al-Mansouri visited Blackburn recently at the invitation of Lord Patel, and saw the site.

Lord Patel said: "I invited Mr Al-Mansouri to Blackburn following my trip to Qatar and the news about the donation. He had not been before and enjoyed seeing what we are doing with the mosque.

"The new building will be used for religious, community and educational purposes, and we will be inviting non-Muslims to visit and find out about Islam. We want to make Blackburn a beacon for other towns for our community cohesion, and this will be at the centre of it.

"It's vital for people to be more informed about Islam, and know that we are not all terrorists or fundamentalists."

Qatar is an 11,400 s km Arabian peninsular state next to Saudi Arabia that is almost entirely desert Petroleum products make up 81 per cent - an estimated £15billion - of Qatar's exports and oil wealth is used to diversify the economy. Qatar also has some of the world's largest gas reserves, and Qataris invariably live in great wealth.

The current Emir ousted his father in a bloodless coup in 1995.

Observers have said his foreign and domestic policies reflect a remarkably open and progressive attitude.