THERE is the fear that behind the closed door, there's something horrible going on."

Mushtaq Ahmed could smile at the notion of life inside a Mosque (Masjid is the proper term) scaring people.

He knows the everyday reality - and he wants the rest of Warrington to know it.

Mushtaq is one of the town's growing population of 2,000 Muslims.

An Appleton resident, he is the former chairman of the Warrington Islamic Association.

He told me about the association's plan to eventually build Warrington's first purpose-built mosque - which has currently stalled.

He said: "It would not just be a mosque for Muslims; it would be a mosque for everybody."

The plan is for a mosque combined with a community centre so everyone can use the community centre for events, and non-Muslims are free to find out more about the mosque.

The best location would be in the town centre as Warrington's Muslim population is spread out. There is no fixed site but the hope is that unused council land can be leased.

Mushtaq also hopes the mosque would integrate the different nationalities who make up Warrington's Muslims - including Somalis, Sudanese, Bosnians, and British converts.

And he said it could be a source of pride for the Muslim community, and a source of pride for the town - a symbol of a successful integration.

The mosque would accommodate 500 worshippers, and it would greatly relieve stress on grieving families - dead bodies need to be prepared in a mosque and have to be taken to Manchester.

Finding the right Imam (mosque leader), will also be difficult - someone well educated who speaks English and can communicate well with children.

Mushtaq said Imams deal with every day questions from worshippers, adding: "Someone may say, I was bullied at school, how should I respond?' Or how to do I accommodate work and prayers?' What are your responsibilities towards your family?' "We want someone who can fit in. We want the Imam to be able to encourage integration."

I knocked on the door of Warrington's Arpley Street mosque - and was invited in on the spot when I asked to look around.

Muhammad Ali Khan, the friendly Imam, was my guide.

I expected restrictions on what I could see and do - but all I had to do was take off my shoes.

The mosque is made from two converted terraced houses knocked through. The carpet looks strange because all the praying positions, each in the shape of a mosque, point towards one corner - the direction of Mecca. The men pray downstairs and the women and children pray upstairs.

The walls are decorated with images of places of pilgrimage in Medina and Mecca. Above the seat where the Iman sits was a copy of the Quran.

Imams have to learn the whole Quran by heart and it took Imam Khan one-and-a-half years to learn the 6,666 verses - he was a fast learner.

Verses from the Quran on the wall, translated into English, talked of love, justice and no discrimination.

The Imam is an Urdu speaker from Pakistan but his English is good and getting better and he hopes soon to be able to give sermons in English.

He explained what most people come to him for advice about - practical, everyday questions about prayer and religion.

Given his friendliness and openness it seemed rude to ask him about bigger political matters but I thought I should.

After a bumbling question, he smiled. "Islam is a religion of peace," he simply said. "The name means peace."

Kanza, Mushtaq Ahmed's 22-year-old daughter, appears to be an ideal example of how to be a modern Muslim woman in the western world.

"It's something I have never even worried about," said Kanza, who works for Golden Gates Housing. "You can combine the two, there's not a problem."

Kanza got a Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award and studied economics St Andrew's University in Scotland.

She wore the Hijab at university, partly because it seemed to get her more respect and polite curiosity, but feels equally at home in western dress that meets religious guidelines.

"I don't have to wear Pakistani or Muslim dress. Some people choose to but that's their choice. That's the beauty of living in a democracy."

She pointed to the successful chain of Shere Khan Restaurants - owned by a Pakistani woman.

"The idea of being oppressed, to me, is an alien concept," said Kanza.