A British engineer faces prison in Abu Dhabi after cursing a Mosque project that was running late.

He was reported to the police by his colleagues after exclaiming during a meeting “When will we finish with the damn mosques?”

The engineer who has not been named, works at the parks and recreation section of Abu Dhabi municipality and was in charge of building gardens around the mosque,

He is now appealing against the month long prison sentence handed down by the Court of Misdemeanors.

Defending himself, he said that he was frustrated at the slow progress of the project, and did not mean to insult Islam or its places of worship.

The British worker told the judge he had said it "out of concern for the project because I wanted it to be ready as soon as possible".

The judge asked him: "So your keenness for completion drove you to curse?"

The engineer reiterated his respect for United Arab Emirates culture and religion and for the buildings around which the gardens are built.

The appeal will be decided on 7 February, according to The National, a English language publication based in the capital of the UAE.