A PROMINENT East Lancashire community leader has been charged with six counts of sexual assault, it has emerged.

Junaid Qureshi MBE, 60, of Blackburn, was arrested at Manchester Airport in October.

And now it has been revealed that police have charged him with the six alleged offences against a 25-year-old woman.

The former non-executive director of NHS Blackburn with Darwen has been bailed to appear before Bolton Magistrates’ Court on Monday, April 20.

He stepped down as chief executive officer of the Ethnic Minority Development Association, a Blackburn-based organisation linking to 78 different community groups, after being charged.

At the time of his arrest, he was also a board member of housing association Prospect Homes, which administrates Twin Valley Homes and Housing Pendle, a governor at Blackburn College, and a board member of the University of Central Lancashire.

He was awarded the MBE in 1999 for work in community relations.

Mr Qureshi was arrested as he arrived back from Pakistan at Manchester Airport on October 30, 2008, accused of a series of sex assaults over months since May 2008.