A planned protest outside the offices of a community association turned into a celebration.

Fundraisers from the 8/10 Group had gathered outside the Kashmiri Association Blackburn (KAB) to urge bosses to release over £30,000 in funds which had been sitting in a bank account for seven weeks.

The money was raised for victims of the South Asian Earthquake Appeal but despite concern from members of the community the Kashmiri Association had not released the money or given a date when it would do so.

However, when protesters arrived they were greeted by two dummy cheques in the window and a letter stating the money had been handed over to the Presidents Fund. These had been placed in the window overnight. Organisers had changed their banners to claim victory.

Jawaid Iqbal, president of the KAB, said: Nobody is more concerned than myself, and our community. The victims of the earthquake are part of us. Many of our relatives have passed away and become homeless and I am quite aware of the situation.

The money has been released. If these young lads still have grievances I cannot do anything about it.

But Mr Iqbal said he had not spoken to the members of 8/10 and was not going to offer the group proof the funds were on their way to help the affected areas of Pakistan.

Asif Mahmud, member of the group, said the campaigners would take Mr Iqbal at his word, and changed the nature of the protest.

He said: We are pleased that the Kashmiri Association has bowed to public pressure and common sense has prevailed.

As this money has been released, as per the statement from the Kashmiri Association president, the people in the affected areas will greatly appreciate it.

Hopefully, the money will be immediately used for peoples immediate needs, like shelter and food.

Another fundraiser Naveed Ayub said, I thought raising money for charity working with people from different backgrounds would create unity and focus.

But despite our efforts it seems politics came before everything else.

We shouldnt have had to even think of protesting to get a community association to release money we raised.