Muslim education trust loses bid to open school in empty West Bromwich office block

Parents who claimed they were forced to send their children to classes almost 130 miles away have lost their bid to open a Muslim secondary school in the Black Country.

Birmingham and Sandwell Education Trust, an umbrella group set up by Bangladeshi, Indian and Pakistani Muslim leaders, earmarked a vacant site in West Bromwich for the project.

They claimed parents had to send their children to independent schools as far away as Blackburn and Bradford to be taught the ethos of their religion.

But Sandwell Council’s planning committee decided the proposed site, Waterside House, in Charles Street, was unsuitable for the project.

The Health and Safety Executive advised against the scheme because of the building’s “proximity to hazardous premises”, including a chemical distribution unit.

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