PROPOSALS for a replacement Muslim prayer shelter in Pleasington Cemetery have been approved despite 33 objections.

The single-storey building will now go ahead after Blackburn with Darwen Council planning committee grant it permission by nine votes to four on Thursday night.

The objections centred around fears about parking and traffic in the graveyard when Muslim burials were taking place at a proposed new section for Islamic interments.

Objector Alan Westwell of Warrenside Close told the meeting the new shelter would destroy the 'peace and tranquillity' of that part of the cemetery.

Mr Westwell said he was concerned about the impact if traffic and parking on other users of the graveyard coming to pay their respects.

He told the committee that the council spending £325,000 on the new shelter was not justified and suggested the new Islamic burial ground it was designed to serve should be resited to land near to the cemetery entrance close to the existing main Muslim site.

Conservative spokesman Cllr Paul Marrow backed Mr Westwell's concerns about traffic and parking from the shelter obstructing other users saying: "It will have the potential for causing trouble."

Borough regeneration boss Cllr Phil Riley said the new building was needed because the existing Muslim burial ground was nearly full and the existing shelter was 'not fit for purpose'.

He said: "It has no heating, no toilets and mourners have to stand in water.

"People deserve to be able to bury their dead with dignity.

"There is no question of having two Muslim prayer shelters. When the new one is built the old one will be demolished or repurposed."

The council's director place Marting Eden told the meeting that the new shelter with seven new spaces and its proximity to an existing underused 44-space carpark within 300 metres would actually reduce congestion rather than increase it.

Blackburn with Darwen Council's executive board meeting in August agreed to pay for the new Muslim burial ground and prayer shelter at the municipally-owned Blackburn cemetery.

Darwen East Liberal Democrat Cllr Paul Browne backed his three Conservative counterparts in opposing approval saying the cemetery grounds were already 'a maze' without the traffic congestion from the new shelter.

Committee chairman Cllr Dave Smith said: "This is the right move. The current shelter is knackered."

After the meeting Blackburn with Darwen Council deputy leader Cllr Quesir Mahmood said: "Council officers have met with residents to address concerns around parking and congestion. This new site will help to alleviate.

"We don’t want to have significant crowds from any service having to move through the cemetery and potentially disturb other services."

Imran Patel, Chair of the Muslim Burial Society, said: "The the replacement shelter is very much welcomed."

Livesey with Pleasington Conservative Cllr Mark Russell said: "I'm very disappointed by the decision."