I WAS very distressed to read the Oxford Mail report (February 9) that the mosque in Chipping Norton won’t be opening because the building’s owner has received threats to burn it to the ground.

I have no doubt that whoever made this despicable threat would claim to be a British patriot but what they are doing is, in fact, fundamentally contrary to some of our most cherished British values: fair play, tolerance and freedom.

As a Christian and a proud Englishman, I hope and pray that our Muslim compatriots in Chipping Norton will very soon be offered an alternative building in which to pray and worship God.

RICHARD SAMUELSON, South Street, Middle Barton