Doug, who was mayor in 1995, said the thing he would miss most was having a say on town planning.

He said: "In a way I'm going to miss it but whatI've discovered in the last year is that theres more to life than Crawley Borough Council."

Doug and his wife Carol, 61, moved to Crawley in 1978 from Battersea when they discovered that Wandsworth Borough Council were nominating families to move to Crawley.

He said: "We sat in the housing office for quite some time until they agreed we could be nominated."

They moved to Ifield, which Doug described as being a "very strong community, known as 'hired drive' by the rest of Crawley because there were so many Londoners there."

But now Doug, whose wife Carol is also suffering from a lung disease, said he needs a break from council duties to carry on with his treatment.

He said: "First of all I need to beat this illness and continue to fight against it, once that's over and I've recovered sufficiently I'm sure I'll return to politics."

And optimistic Doug said he was disappointed that he would not be able to use his new bus pass yet.

He said: "I was planning on going to Inverness on it! I've had so many good wishes from people around it's given me quite some hope."

At a meeting of the full council last Wednesday, Labour Leader, Cllr Brenda Smith said: "It is an absolute pleasure to see Doug at the meeting, despite his ill health. Most of you know that he's had a traumatic and personally distressing year.

"But Doug soldiers on as he always has done. We thank you Doug for your service to the council and to the community."