A row erupted even after the end of a court hearing over Peterborough City Council’s decision to sell a community complex it owns, which has housed a Hindu temple since 1986, to the UK Islamic Mission (UKIM).
Council leader Shabina Qayyum acknowledged “concern within the Hindu community” and said officials were exploring alternative locations. The Bharat Hindu Samaj (BHS) temple “will not be left without a home,” she said. Both parties in the case – the BHS Trust and UKIM – said the dispute was not an interfaith conflict, but a challenge to the council’s decision-making process.
The New England complex, which is owned by the government, has been used by the BHS since 1986. The temple was established by Hindu families who arrived in Britain after being expelled from Uganda by dictator Idi Amin in 1972, and today serves an estimated 14,000 people from across Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Lincolnshire, the local annex of Telegraph And I mentioned.
On 16 December 2025, the city council’s cabinet agreed to sell the complex to the highest bidder, as part of a wider plan to address the council’s debt of almost £500 million. The decision was referred back for a second look, but the Cabinet confirmed the sale to Ukip on February 10, 2026, the BBC reported.
UKIM, which runs the nearby Khadija Mosque, says its current buildings have outgrown it after nearly 40 years, and it plans to build what it describes as a “unity centre” on the site, including prayer spaces, classrooms and sports facilities.
The bids that came in
BHS has said publicly that it understands that a price of £1.3 million has been agreed to purchase the site. In court, the council’s counsel set BHS’s formal offer at £900,000 in cash plus £504,000 of estimated “social value” of its community work, against UKIM’s cash offer of £1.4m supported by proof of £5.4m of funds. UKIM also offered to improve any competing cash offer by up to 5%, the BBC reported.
The city council took the importance of the temple into account, and BHS would retain its lease until any redevelopment began, the lawyer said. Alternative locations were also offered, the report said.
As for BHS, its lawyer said the Cabinet had relied on officers’ recommendations without adequate scrutiny, and that this amounted to an unlawful authorization of the decision. He said the council had not properly weighed up its duties under the Equality Act 2010, given the impact of the closure on the temple community, which he said had no alternative premises, even as UKIM runs nearly 40 centers and 60 branches nationwide, the BBC reported.
He noted that Peterborough has about 40 churches and 10 mosques, but there is only one Hindu temple within 35 miles. Fisher said the challenge was directed at the council process, not at UKIM or its presentation.
Gauri Chaudhary, Trustee of BHS, said: India Today TV The board indicated in March 2025 that the temple could submit bids to purchase the property, but trustees received no response to their bid for several months.
2021 Census data shows Muslims make up 12.2% of Peterborough’s population, while Hindus make up 1.8%.
Meanwhile, BHS has raised more than £119,000 through a GoFundMe campaign to cover costs.
Its trustees say that no viable alternative location or headquarters has been identified yet.
