Byker Grove will be transformed into an Islamic school. Council planning chiefs have given the go-ahead to plans to convert Bishop's Palace – used to film the popular TV series – into a fee-paying faith school.

The BAHR Academy will cater for up to 340 boys and girls between 11 and 16 in Benwell, Newcastle. But the development of the currently empty and run-down site will also include a community building, coffee shop and events space open at weekends.

The plans were approved by Newcastle City Council at a meeting yesterday despite some objections being raised by residents about traffic congestion and noise around the site, which was used to film the children's TV show which launched Ant and Dec and Donna Air to fame.

BAHR Academy principal Mufti Muhammad Abdulmuheet welcomed the decision, which he said will see a derelict building put back into the community.

"When it was run by the BBC, the site was not open to everyone but we want the public to come along, the community facilities are for everyone to use," he said. "We want to show that Islam is inclusive and we want to be a part of Benwell and Scotswood. At the moment the building is in a dire state but the community has raised funds to bring it back into use."

Evening Chronicle, 15 December 2012

Needless to say, the English Defence League are not happy.

The EDL staged a protest at the site in November 2010, during which they chanted "scum" and "no surrender to the Taliban". A week earlier a pig's head was left outside the building. The British National Party was also involved in the campaign against what it called "Burka Grove".

The EDL demonstration was organised by former BNP parliamentary candidate Alan Spence, who recently served a 7-month prison sentence for his part in an attack by an EDL gang on Tyneside Irish Centre.

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EDL thug Anthony Crawford was today facing prison after hurling a firework at peaceful protesters.

Crawford lit and then lobbed it at anti-jubilee protesters as they gathered for a rally. It landed in the hood worn by Barnaby Drew, from Byker, Newcastle, who was left with burns after it exploded on his shoulder and set fire to his hair.

Crawford, of Elmway, Chester-le-Street, County Durham, has been warned he could face custody after launching the terrifying attack.

The court heard how Crawford joined a group of EDL protesters at the Rose & Crown pub, on Newcastle's Newgate Street, for a pre-arranged meeting on June 4. Later he sparked mayhem when he threw two bottles and the firecracker as trouble flared during scuffles in front of shoppers at Newcastle’s Grey's Monument where the EDL and anti-jubilee protesters clashed.

District Judge Earle said: "Even without any aggravating factors this is a custody case with all options open. It's a deeply disturbing incident in a public area where it’s difficult to believe anything other than a custody sentence would be appropriate."

Crawford, who admitted one charge of assault by beating and one count of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause fear or provoke unlawful violence, was released on conditional bail and will appear later for sentence.

Evening Chronicle, 2 July 2012

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