Gym feast brought community together

Tariq Khan (centre) with friends Kris Scholes (right) and James McDonough at the community event at Tariq's gym the Muscle Factory.

The owners of a Burnley gym, who decided to open their doors to the public to help bring different communities together, hailed the event a great success.

Tariq and Buddy Khan sent out an open invitation for people to join them at Iftar, one of the religious observances of Ramadan, where people gather to break their fast together.

Hundreds of people gathered at the Muscle Factory in Daneshouse Road where a feast of food and drink was laid on for them.

Tariq said: "The response was absolutely fantastic and a couple of hundred people of all ages and faiths came along to join us.

Guests gather for the Ramadan feast at the Muscle Factory in Burnley.

"Our aim was to bring people together to show that people of all faiths can accept each other's beliefs and get along with mutual respect."

This is the third time the brothers have held the community event since they opened the gym three years ago and each year it gets bigger and better.

Kris Scholes, one of the guests at the meal, said: "What Buddy and Tariq did was open their doors to everyone from every background.

"It was a prime example of a united front and we really should all be taking leaves out of that book."