A 21-YEAR fight to establish a mosque in Canterbury has been won.

City council planning chiefs have finally agreed the Muslim community's repeated demand for the right to use a former three-bedroom house called The Markaz in Giles Lane as a place of prayer for up to 140 worshippers.

At a meeting on Tuesday deputy council leader Ron Pepper backed the group, saying: "The mood of the worship is sober and quiet. It is not happy clappy evangelical Christian worship. It is dignified."

The Markaz, near the University of Kent, was granted permission to function as a mosque on a temporary three-year basis, while the search for a more permanent place of worship continues.

In the meantime, permission was granted against neighbours' wishes to build a two-storey extension to house the worshippers, including many students.

About 125 people attend weekly prayers on Friday lunchtimes, swelling to 140 during the religious festival Ramadan.

"I think the Muslim community will have cause to celebrate this Friday," said Raschid Sohawan, one of two Imams who lead worship at the mosque.

"We approached the University 21 years ago and they gave us the land to build a mosque at the end of Giles Lane. We spent £10,000 on the plan in 1983 but the council refused. They wouldn't allow us to cut down the trees, which were then blown down in the storms of 1987.

"We have spent years negotiating with the University for a multi-faith centre, but the city council has not done its part unfortunately. They have rejected six applications in total.

"It has taken 21 years for a change of attitude to our needs. Multi-faith and multi-culture are here to stay."