AWALE Olad, the Labour councillor in Holborn and Covent Garden, has told the party he will not stand again at next May’s elections.

He has been serving the area ­– on the Camden side of the border – for 15 years and chaired a lively scrutiny committee which has grilled police on how they treat young black men, challenged TfL on the temperatures on buses and hire bike companies on blocked pavements.

This is a safe Labour ward so he is not fleeing a potential defeat.

Instead, his letter to party chiefs revealed an insight into the life of a councillor, if they are doing the job right.

So let anybody putting their name forward as potentially candidates next year be duly warned by his words.

“I have enjoyed every moment but realised a couple of years ago that I no longer had the energy to keep going,” Cllr Olad (pictured) said.

“There comes a point when you must decide whether to return to being a private citizen or continue being a public servant.

“I no longer want to be stopped at the supermarket, outside my children’s school (I am not sure if my children still believe I am merely their parent and not a local attraction), at the park, the bus stop, or the gym.

“I now go to a different Mosque as my local one triggers a queue of people waiting outside for me to deal with their problems. Sometimes people would literally run towards me, distressed, usually to offload an issue. Once, someone fell and was hurt in the process.”