Excerpt:
A Church of England church has been allowed to remove its pews in order to cater for local Muslims. St Thomas Werneth, in Oldham, near Manchester, has been given permission to remove the pews to allow it to hold more events with the wider community, which is "broadly Muslim", the Chancellor of the Diocese of Manchester said.
In a ruling made last month, Geoffrey Tattershall QC said that the church would be allowed to remove the seating because the proposals would have "major public benefit outweighing any harm resulting from the loss of the pews".
The 19th century church is the only one in the parish and is in an area which is 88 per cent non-white British.