Leaders at a Blackburn mosque have urged other places of worship to be on alert after a suspected burglary took place on the eve of Ramadan.

The Masjid-e-Noor in Saunders Road suffered a break-in in the early hours of Saturday, March 9, with damage caused by the suspect.

In CCTV images from the mosque, a man can be seen entering the building and rummaging through cupboards at 2.24am.

He can be seen to search for a short while but soon leaves once he realises there is nothing of value inside.

A mosque representative said there was damage to the cabinets and storage cupboards but nothing appears to have been taken.

Lancashire Police has been contacted for comment.

The mosque has been preparing for the first Taraweeh prayers of Ramadan, which took place on Sunday evening, with the first fast for the holy month taking place today (Monday).

The mosque has told other places of worship to be on high alert for intruders as Ramadan goes on.

Many Muslims give larger charitable donations during the holy month; giving to charity, or zakat, is one of the five pillars of Islam.

A mosque spokesperson said: “This was completely unnecessary damage caused to the cupboards and storage areas.

“We keep no cash in the building and we would advise other mosques to be on alert following this incident.

“All the payments for the madressa classes are now made by bank transfer.

“Any small charity payments are also not held on site.

“Ramadan is very busy period for mosques and there is a lot of activity.”

During Ramadan mosques host evening prayers lasting for well over an hour and this year these will take place from 8pm.