A national newspaper has apologised after it falsely claimed a Lewisham mosque was being investigated by police for having extremist links.

In January, the Telegraph published a story claiming Lewisham Islamic Centre is under a police investigation after being linked to extremism and holocaust denial.

The article further claimed that the centre segregates its scout groups by gender.

Representatives of the mosque wholly denied the allegations, which were repeated in The Times, Daily Mail and Daily Star.

On Friday the newspaper issued a correction and apology, clarifying that the Centre is not under investigation for extremism, and reporting that gender segregation is not enforced amongst scouts.

Responding to the apology, a spokesperson for Lewisham Islamic Centre said: "It was The Telegraph, with shoddy investigative assistance from the nefarious Henry Jackson Society, who first broke the lie that our scouts group was being investigated by police for fears of extremism and for allegedly segregating children who attended the scouts group.

"And with rabid enthusiasm, the fake news was seized upon by the likes of The Times, The Daily Mail, The Daily Star without so much as a soupçon of fact finding to ascertain the validity and credibility of the so-called news story.

"Then again, what is to be expected of "professional journalism" when Truth, Integrity and simple courtesy to news consumers are traded for blatant partisanship and unbridled hysteria?

"The Telegraph stubbornly held on to their flimsy and misconceived ideas like a dog with a bone until the eleventh hour before finally conceding defeat to the Lewisham Islamic Centre, all praise be to Allah."

The piece also claimed that scout group leader Ahammed Hussain told children to be "Muslims first" and that UK police are “leading a campaign against Muslims; attempting a genocide against them.”

These claims have not been corrected in the paper's retraction.

According to the mosque, Mr Hussain pursuing claims for defamation against each of the newspapers for the claims made against him.

In Friday's paper, the Telegraph said: "A January 19 reported that police were investigating claims that a Scout group hosted by the Lewisham Islamic Centre had extremist links.

"We now understand that the Lewisham Islamic Centre was not subject to any police investigation.

"Further we reported that the Lewisham Islamic Centre segregates its Scout groups by gender. It denies that it enforces segregation and we accept that segregating children is not against Scout Association rules.

"We are happy to make these points clear and apologise for any contrary impression."