This afternoon's full meeting of the authority voted decisively in favour of the ban, proposed by its leader Cllr Geoff Driver, by 49 to 23 with nine abstentions.
It will affect 12,000 Muslim pupils in the 27 schools in Blackburn, Nelson, Burnley, Rawtenstall, Hyndburn and Preston.
Abdul Hamid Qureshi, chief executive of the Lancashire Council of Mosques, said: "This decision is hugely disappointing."
He said a boycott of school meals by Muslim pupils and a legal challenge remained options for the organisation which has a strict interpretation of halal beef and lamb.
Cllr Driver: “This is an animal welfare issue: nothing more nothing less." [Lancashire Telegraph] Read more
