A newly elected committee at the biggest religious centre in the borough has pledged to promote peace and social integration after years of tension over its leadership.

Last night around 1250 Sunni Muslims (out of 1574 members) voted for a new committee to run the Waltham Forest Islamic Association.

The group, formerly known as the opposition group, will take charge of Lea Bridge Road Mosque on Sunday at the Annual General Meeting after receiving 80 per cent of votes.

A vote for a new committee should have taken place in November 2012 but the leadership failed to do it and a high court order was made, forcing the charity to hold it yesterday.

Abdul Majid, who will be announced as a committee member this weekend, said this is a time to look to the future. 

“The main reason we opposed them was because they didn’t hold the vote and they broke the constitution, but we do not want to dwell on that.

“Last night was peaceful.

“We have experienced men and we have a lot of youth in the new committee. They have new ideas for the mosque. It is important that it is peaceful here.”

More on this story in Thursday's Waltham Forest Guardian and Chingford Guardian.