Plans to transform a library into a mosque in a quiet Welsh town have faced a last-minute legal challenge.
The former library is to be turned into Abergavenny's first mosque after Labour council chiefs agreed a 30-year-old lease on the building.
The decision to renovate the disused property was made in June, as the library has been out of use for a decade.
The Muslim population in Abergavenny is approximately one per cent of the total residents, below the Welsh average of 2.2 per cent, according to the latest population data.
Now, lawyers acting for three councillors and a local resident have written to Monmouthshire County Council, raising new legal concerns about the council's right to lease the building.
They warned the council against proceeding with the lease deal until concerns about a 120-year-old legal document are resolved.
The library was built in 1905 with money from Andrew Carnegie, a famous philanthropist, on the condition that the building could be used only for library and educational purposes.
Conditions also required to protect nearby almshouse residents, elderly women living next door, from disturbance.
Plans to transform a library into a mosque in a quiet Welsh town have faced a last-minute legal challenge
|In 2022, the council, then run by Conservatives, made a new deal with the charity that runs the almshouses, which relaxed some of the 1905 restrictions, allowing the building to be used for purposes other than education or a library.
Property barrister Paul Stafford has questioned whether the change in rules was carried out correctly.
His two main concerns were centred on the approval from the Charity Commission and the protection of the almshouse residents.
The documents required to settle the dispute could be in historical papers in Scotland and New York, according to the barrister.
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The former library is to be turned into Abergavenny's first mosque
|He explained that the vital documents would likely be held in Andrew Carnegie’s private papers at the National Records of Scotland, or in the Carnegie Corporation archives at Columbia University in New York.
Campaigners have also blasted the plans, describing the library as a "incredibly important civic building" in their small town.
The South Welsh town is widely considered the food capital of Wales and has become a huge tourist destination for foodies.
It hosts the internationally renowned Abergavenny Food Festival and a market.
The council previously said it has "absolute confidence" in its decision-making and governance and that "any attempt to frustrate the democratically agreed position of the council will be met with an appropriate challenge ", but that it wouldn’t make any comment on "any new or additional legal matters until they are concluded”.