THE most surprising thing about the activities of Muslim cleric Abu Hamza is that he was able to carry on spreading his dangerous and obnoxious message of hate for so long.

There was no shortage of official knowledge that he was clearly inciting terror and yet no action was taken for years.

It is also worrying that he was able to come to Blackburn twice and on one of the visits, in 2003, rant to an audience in a council-controlled community centre.

The council says procedures have now been tightened up so that details need to be given in advance of what the venue will be used for so officials can decide if it is appropriate.

The public must now have confidence that these procedures will be thorough and actually work.

We cannot have a situation where such vile speechmakers are effectively subsidised by council tax payers.

It is encouraging that a mere 20 people out of a Muslim population of around 30,000 turned out for each of Hamza's Blackburn visits and that community leaders are withering in their condemnation of him.

Events of the past few years have brought a sea change in attitudes throughout the community and an awareness of the danger of allowing advocates of terrorism to go unchallenged and unchecked.