THE leader of the Muslim community in south Shropshire has met with his Christian counterpart.

Richard Frith, the Bishop of Hereford met with Imam Sohayb Peerbhai from the Mosque in Craven Arms along with other leaders from the two religions.

They issue a joint statement condemning the use of violence.

"The tragic events in Paris, and indeed elsewhere, show that terrorism knows no national boundaries and respects no norms of civilised behaviour. Those who suffered in the Paris massacre join the millions of people fleeing from the war in Syria and elsewhere, whose lives have also been ruined by fanaticism.

"We believe that locally, people will not allow extremism of any sort to triumph over our own human values of tolerance, compassion and kindness, values shared by Christians and Muslims alike. If we stop caring, then the terrorists will have achieved their goal in destroying our way of life.

"The wars in the Middle East and Africa are not taking place in far away places that don’t concern us. We are in effect involved, all of us, here in Europe and here at home too. What we must do is hold on to our values and keep going, hoping and praying for peace.’