TRADERS in Lye have hit out over a proposal that could see a much-needed public car park sold off to the town's mosque.

The Lye Ghausia Mosque and Welfare Association wants to buy the Dudley Council owned car park located behind Londis convenience store in the High Street to help provide extra parking spaces for worshippers.

But Lye businesswoman Sheila Wade, of Hair by Graham Wade, says traders have been left fuming about the plan which they only discovered after getting their hands on a leaked council document.

She told the News: "There's a lot of opposition to this going out of public use - it's the only car park on this side of the High Street and people like easy parking.

"It's the safest car park as there are lights behind from the houses and lights from the mosque at the side - it's very well used.

"Things have been knocked down and rebuilt around it, roads have changed slightly and access has been cut off but the car park's been there in excess of 40 years.

"I would like the proposal rejected - it's a community asset."

She said the car park, which offers parking for around 30 cars, is well used by customers at the supermarket and a number of other businesses in the High Street.

And she added: "The thing that's angered people is that we weren't in on it. We could have turned up one morning to find the car park sold. Had we not seen a leaked internal document we wouldn't have known anything about it."

Lye councillor Mohammed Hanif said the mosque management committee has pledged that residents, shoppers and traders would retain the right to use the car park if the purchase goes ahead - except during Friday prayers and on four or five big religious occasions throughout the year.

Councillor Judy Foster, Dudley's cabinet member for corporate and customer services, said the council was "currently looking at options for the land" and that no decisions have been taken.

She added: "We have received no formal offer for the land or a planning application.”