TROWBRIDGE could be the first town in the UK to be twinned with a Muslim country. Plans are being made to twin the county town with Oujda in Morocco to strengthen the ties between the town's Moroccan population.

Jilali Bettioui, from the Moroccan Community Associa- tion, said: "We have been here for so long, for about 35 years.

"Many Moroccans in Trow- bridge come form Oujda and the idea was to twin with the place where most people came from.

"We want to build bridges between Morocco and the UK and it would be the first time a Muslim Arab country has twinned with the UK so Trowbridge would be leading again.

"We have already been leading with our community because we live together with no problems, which is more than many bigger towns manage."

Town councillor Mary Stacey said: "In these times this would be a very, very valuable and positive move.

"It would be excellent for the town and I am sure it would strengthen the community in Trowbridge as well as the link with Morocco."

Trowbridge is already twinned with Leer in Germany, the French town of Charenton-Le-Pont and, along with the four other west Wiltshire towns, the Polish district Elblag.

Mayor Arthur Ransom said he plans to make contact with his counterpart in Oujda shortly.

"I think this is an excellent idea. We are living in a world rather than a country and we all need to get along with other races," he said.

A meeting is due to be held between the Moroccan Comm- unity Association and other interested parties tonight to try and move forward and the town council has already pledged its support.

The Moroccan population in Trowbridge is second only to that in London with about 80 families in the town, and more in neighbouring areas such as Westbury, Chippenham and Swindon.

Many have been living in the UK since the 1960s when they came over in response to the need for more workers in Trowbridge.

John Irving, chairman of the Wiltshire Racial Equality Council and a convert to Islam, said: "The greatest challenge facing the west at the moment is to build bridges with Islam and this case of the first twinning of a British town to a Moroccan town is a significant step in that direction.

"I have high hopes this will lead to closer ties and closer understanding between the two religions."