Legoland hotel shuts over anti-Muslim threats

Legoland hotel shuts over  anti-Muslim threats

Legoland in Britain will close its hotel this weekend after far-right extremists made threats against the theme park for agreeing to host a Muslim family fun day.

The resort had been hired out by the Muslim Research and Development Foundation, and 1,000 Muslim families were due to attend.

Legoland canceled the private event last week after its Facebook page was bombarded by abusive messages from right-wing groups.

Following talks with organizers and police, it decided to shut the 150 room hotel in Windsor to the west of London this weekend.

Before the cancellation, a blogger from the far-right British National Party (BNP) said Legoland should be "ashamed of themselves for bowing to these Muslims". Legoland had already planned to close the theme park to the general public this weekend, the spokeswoman said. It will reopen on March 14.

"The Legoland Windsor resort has had to close the hotel on Saturday and Sunday after threats from right-wing groups," a Legoland spokeswoman said.

"The safety and security of our guests and our members of staff has to be our number one priority, which is why we've made the difficult decision to close the hotel."

The Muslim Research and Development Foundation is chaired by cleric Haitham al-Haddad, who has been described by some newspapers as an "extremist preacher". Haddad denies the claim.

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