A EURO MP visited a mosque in Burnley in a bid to unify communities and prevent revenge attacks elsewhere in Britain from spreading to East Lancashire.

Chris Davies, a Liberal Democrat MEP for the North West, travelled to Burnley as the town's Labour MP, Peter Pike, called for an end to the suffering of innocent people, at a meeting in Nelson.

Mr Davies joined Muslims at the Gousiea Mosque, in Colne Road, on Saturday lunchtime, after being invited by local Asian councillors.

Mr Davies said: "I wanted to stretch a hand across the divide between people and make clear that recent attacks against Muslims and mosques were entirely without justification.

"Hundreds of Muslims died in the World Trade Centre, alongside thousands of others.

"The enemy is not Islam, but the fanatics of whatever religion who believe that the killing of innocent people is acceptable.

"Islam has a long history of tolerance towards those of other faiths, which over the centuries has been better than that of the Christian religion.

"Those who commit acts of violence against their fellow citizens are acting just like the terrorists they claim to despise."

Mr Pike, who attended the Pakistan Welfare Association AGM, said: "These are difficult times. We all have to condemn extremists of whatever cause and make it clear that terrorism in any form is not the way to fight a cause.

We all express our sympathy and condolences to all those in the USA and elsewhere who have suffered as a result of these appalling incidents.

"While I believe those responsible have to be tracked down and must be dealt with, it is essential that reprisals are not taken that result in many other innocent people suffering.

"Reprisals that involve further reprisals present a risk of escalation that is too appalling to contemplate."