Plans for a mosque on the site of a former South Norwood pub may be shelved after opposition from as far away as California, Pakistan and Finland.
Ansarul-lah, a Muslim organisation, has applied for planning permission to convert The Portmanor, in Portland Road, into a mosque and community centre.
But a vehement online reaction, negative signals from the council, as well as more than 500 objections lodged on the online planning application, have made the architects have second thoughts.
The objections had been lodged from all over Britain, including Bolton, Worcester and Huddersfield, and across the world. There were objectors from thousands of miles away in places such as Inglewood in Los Angeles, Kokkola in Finland and Karachi in Pakistan.
The pub used to be the home of Crystal Palace supporters’ group The Holmesdale Fanatics on match days but has been shut since the end of the 2013-14 football season.
Benedict O’Looney, whose architecture firm also designed Croydon Mosque, in London Road, said: “Unfortunately, there is a big downer on Islam around the world. When we put the application in for Croydon Mosque, we had some objections from some pretty far-flung places, although the planners don’t bear them as a material consideration.
“But we didn’t expect it. That has been what is so perplexing. When we have built mosques in Peckham, we did not get the same reaction.”
Mr O’Looney said it would be “difficult” for the mosque plan to go ahead under the current scheme and accepted a pre-application may have been wise.
But he reiterated Ansarul-lah was a good organisation.
“They don’t have any bad intentions,” Mr O’Looney added.
“They just want their own mosque basically, somewhere to call their home.
“From our perspective, we think that the building is better used than unused.
“We wanted to take care of the building whether it was a mosque or a pub.”
The Advertiser understands fears over parking at the council would have put paid to the mosque application at an early stage anyway.
Mr O’Looney said he thought the mosque was in a good location because of South Norwood’s “brilliant” transport links.
The application is still lodged with Croydon Council and has not been withdrawn.
Dr Ade Ogunfemi, Ansarul-lah’s president, previously told the Advertiser he wanted to talk to South Norwood residents about the plans at drop-in sessions.
Ansarul-lah, currently renting premises in Clapham, attracts a congregation of about 200, mainly African and Caribbean Muslims.