Ramadan lights on display in central London over Easter

Ramadan lights will be on display in London’s West End over the Easter Weekend.

The holy month – the most significant in the Islamic calendar – is being celebrated with lights in Oxford Street and between Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square. They were switched on earlier this month by Sadiq Khan, London’s mayor, after Westminster’s Labour-run council gave the go-ahead.

This year marks the second year that the Muslim celebration has been marked with illuminations in central London.

The lights are funded by the Aziz Foundation, a charity founded by Asif Aziz, a billionaire property developer whose company owns sites including the London Trocadero that occupies much of the block between Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square.

The lights – wishing a ‘‘Happy Ramadan’’ – have drawn plaudits but prompted a warning from prominent local Conservatives that the council must also support the other major faiths during important festivals.

Last week Network Rail was forced to remove an Islamic message on the departure board at London King’s Cross.

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