PLANS to hold a two-day Muslim prayer festival in a Blackburn park have been scuppered after council bosses said the ground could get waterlogged.

Organisers said they were “devastated” Blackburn with Darwen Council has pulled the plug on their bid to host the Eid celebration in Corporation Park next month.

The self-funded event was being organised by a national body, the Eid Celebration Committee.

Spokesman Jalal Ibn Sa’eed said: “We felt from the way we were spoken to that it would definitely go ahead and there weren’t any issues.

“We were preparing for is as if it was going to happen, so this is devastating.

“We offered a number of solutions and would have spent extra money cordoning off the grass and just used the road area.

“We would have covered any damage even though there wouldn’t have been any.

“This is extremely disappointing to say the least, because it was something that is definitely needed.

"Everyone would have been welcome and it would have brought people together.”

As well as prayers in the morning, funfairs and children’s games would have taken place.

Local organiser Ashfaq Ahmed said raffle prizes had already been donated and would have to be returned.

Following the decision to refuse permission to use the park, a vastly scaled-down version will take place at Amina Halll, Newton Street, Audley, where prayers will take place at 9am.

Council bosses said organisers would instead be offered the hire of an indoor venue for an Eid celebration in December, but Mr Sa’eed questioned whether a large enough building could be found.

Lancashire Council of Mosques chairman Abdul Hamid Qureshi said he had personally backed the scheme and was disappointed it was not going ahead.

Coun Michael Law-Riding, executive member for leisure and culture for the council said: “We received a request to hold an Eid event at the beginning of October, from a member of the public.

“Due to the potential damage to the park caused by the footfall of large numbers of people walking on what is already very soggy ground caused by the exceptional rainfall this summer, the request has been refused.”