The contractor employed to build the massive dome on Bradford's new mosque in Darfield Street has been taken off the job because he is "too slow''.

The contractor - who has not been named - has been dropped from the project because the dome, based on one in Istanbul, should have been finished for Ramadan last December. But three months later the huge steel dome frame, visible from Westgate, is still on the ground.

Khadim Hussain, of the Jamiat Tabligh-ul-Islam association which is having the mosque built, said: "I am bitterly disappointed that the dome was not completed in Ramadan. It would have helped boost our confidence and fundraising."

He said the delay would not stop it from being one of the best mosques in Europe.

"It is designed to stay here for 500 years and coming generations will be so proud of this building," he said. The construction, made with traditional materials of English oak and Yorkshire sandstone, is expected to cost up to £2 million.

Designer Neil Waghorne said: "The work has been slow because the steel people constructing the dome have been very slow."

Now quotes from alternative contractors were being sought and examined so the job could be completed quickly.

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