AN MP is calling on residents to respond positively to moves by a town's muslim community to improve integration.

Stockton South MP Dari Taylor is tonight attending a celebration at Stockton's International Family Centre, to mark plans for a £2.5m mosque in the town winning its first stage of planning consent.

The celebration, to be attended by Mrs Taylor, Cleveland Police Chief Constable Sean Price, Stockton Borough Council leader Bob Gibson and Middlesbrough Mayor Ray Mallon, has been organised by local imam Hafiz Naeem and mosque general secretary Mohammed Javed.

Mrs Taylor said: "This is a peaceful, friendly community that wants to be integrated and share their culture with the people of Stockton.

"The evening will be a celebration of the coming together of two communities and I am delighted that the imam and Mohammed Javed are welcoming people to the International Family Centre to celebrate with them the building of the new mosque.

"This is a very important moment for the Muslim population in Stockton. They want to be part of the local community and they hope that the local community wants to understand the Muslim way of life. I am delighted that their new mosque has been given positive consideration."