NUMBERS are swelling for an anti-Islam 9/11 protest outside Harrow Central Mosque.

Hardline groups who say they do not want any more mosques in Britain have planned to stage a two-hour protest outside the building, in Station Road, at 5pm, on September 11.

The event will commemorate the 2001 terrorist attacks as well as spreading an anti-Islam message, but the mosque community say they too oppose terrorism and extremism of all kinds.

The event is being advertised through social networking website Facebook where 206 people say they will go, 560 say they might go and 1,120 are yet to reply.

Unite Against Fascism (UAF) also plans to stage its own counter demonstration starting four hours earlier, and a Facebook page advertising the event has 132 confirmed guests.

Almost 1,900 people have yet to reply and 176 say they might attend.

Chief Superintendent Dal Babu, borough commander for Harrow, told a meeting with mosque leaders, on August 22, that the anti-Islam protesters could raise at most 15 to 20 people.

Speaking at the meeting, he said: “We are confident that we are able to deal with any issues that come to our attention and we ask that you remain calm and confident in our ability to deal with them.”

There are fears UAF members could clash with protesters from the English Defence League (EDL) after a stand off between the two groups in Birmingham led to violent scenes and 35 arrests.

But while the Facebook group is sponsored by EDL and splinter group Casuals United, the two organisations are no longer advertising it on their own websites.

Stephen Gash, of Stop the Islamisation of Europe (SIOE), the main organiser of the anti-Islam protest, said there would be no violence from his side.

UAF also say they intend to protest within the law.

Harrow politicians from both sides of the political divide have rallied to defend the mosque, where members say they are being unfairly targetted.

Rachel Sharp, the Harrow Times group editor, has declared this paper's support for the religious institution, saying “we too stand together with Harrow Central Mosque, and reject any attempts to divide us”.