MORE than 2,500 Muslims have signed a petition against plans for a huge mosque in Stratford.

The £100 million mosque, which would be the biggest in Europe, is earmarked for a site at Abbey Mills next to the Channelsea River.

The building would initially hold 10,000 worshippers, but there would be a facility for increasing this later. It would serve as the UK headquarters of the Islamic group Tablighi Jamaat.

Tablighi Jamaat was formed in the 1920s in India. It is a non-political movement that condemns terrorism.

But there have been concerns from some about the group's activities.

In September, Newham Christian People's Alliance Cllr Alan Craig called for a public inquiry into Tablighi Jamaat.

He said that intelligence services and some academics have been asking whether the group is a breeding ground for terrorism.

Now 2,500 Muslims living near the mosque site have signed a petition against the mosque plan.

One Muslim man told the Guardian: "We are concerned that Tablighi Jamaat doesn't represent the main body of Islam.

"There has been overwhelming support for this petition from the Muslim community."

He said that the group was intolerant towards people of other faiths and other sections of the community.

He went on: "We don't believe Tablighi Jamaat is conducive to community cohesiveness.

"There is a radical element that is alien to the teachings of Sunni Islam as taught by Islamic scholars over 1,000 years."

The petitioner, who did not wish to be named, said that all Muslim groups should be equally represented in Newham and that Tablighi Jamaat already had a number of mosques.

Tablighi Jamaat is a conservative missionary group that follows strict codes of Islamic law and sends young British Muslims to religious schools in Pakistan.

The petitioner said Tablighi Jamaat was separatist and criticised other groups, causing disharmony.

He said: "It will have a huge impact on the area. They say completely outrageous things about other groups."

Tablighi Jamaat currently has a temporary mosque on the Abbey Mills site.

Last week, planning permission on the site expired, meaning that technically the group is breaching planning laws.

A Newham Council spokesman said: "We shall be contacting those responsible for the mosque to determine their position in terms of their overall master plan for the site or whether they intend to renew their temporary planning permission for the current buildings. What they tell us will determine our next move.

"The council has the prerogative not to take enforcement action. We are prepared to be flexible about the situation but are not prepared to let the matter go unresolved."

Tablighi Jamaat does not usually talk to the media.

But the mosque's director of development Abdul Khalique told the BBC: "Our view is we are clean, we should pray for those who are going astray and trying to stick mud on us."