A planning application has been submitted to convert an abandoned chapel in Llanbedr into a mosque.

Snowdonia National Park Authority has received an application to make alterations to Capel Moriah in Llanbedr which would see it turned into the ‘Jamia Almaarif’ Mosque and Meditation Centre.

The former Methodist Church with vestry and detached chapel house is on the market for £250,000 with Walter Lloyd Jones estate agents and is currently said to be under offer.

The plans submitted to Snowdonia would see the removal of pews and railings from inside the Grade II listed chapel, as well as the installation of a new lean-to kitchen and toilets outside, a new sign outside reading Jamia Almaarif Mosque and Meditation Centre and a new alarm and heating system and disabled access.

The nearest mosques currently are in Bangor and Aberystwyth.

As the site is already a place of worship in planning terms, there is no need for a change of application.

Other alterations put forward in the planning application are for an en-suite toilet in the larger bedroom of the chapel house, pathway access from the house to the chapel and a toilet and shower room.

The application has been put in by Fatma Bodhee, of Barking, London, a director of Jamia Almaarif, Mosque and Meditation Centre.

The company was formed in July 2018, and lists among its directors Bodhee, Saira Chaudry, and Mohammad Amir Karim, whose profession is listed on documents filed with Companies House as ‘religious minister’.

Dyfi Architecture Limited of Eglwysfach near Machynlleth is acting as the agent.