EDL Shotton demo

MONDAY, 24 JANUARY 2011

EDL Demo Against Shotton Mosque

On Saturday 22nd January, the English Defence League (EDL) held a protest in Shotton over plans to build an Islamic centre in the town. Members of the EDL’s divisions from Stoke, Burnley, Manchester, Cardiff, Liverpool and Chester had all been invited to the official protest at the old Shotton Lane Social Club, where the proposed centre would be built. A spokesman for the Chester division of the EDL said the group had been liaising with North Wales Police and the aim was to make ‘a peaceful protest’. EDL members gathered at Chester train station from noon-12.30pm before heading by train to Shotton. From there, the protestors headed to The Central Hotel for a demonstration. The Flintshire Muslim Cultural Society (FMCS) is aiming to set up the Islamic centre at the former Shotton Lane club, which has been empty since it closed in August. The group is more than halfway to raising the £150,000 needed to buy the venue after a TV appeal broadcast to the wider Muslim community. The Flintshire Muslim Cultural society currently rents the Queensferry Institute building for Islamic and Arabic classes, which are held twice  a week. FMCS chairman Monchab Ali said the reason for the new base was because of growing class sizes. At 1.45pm the protestors left the central hotel and began their march to the former Shotton Lane Social Club, the location of the proposed Mosque.