A council officer taking on the legal duties of the chief executive says he wants to work with all departments for the future of the authority.

Paul Najsarek, current director for community health and wellbeing, will be taking on the legal duties of Harrow Borough Council’s chief executive Michael Lockwood after it was announced he would be leaving his role.

The departure came following a 30 day consultation after leader of the council Susan hall announced proposals to scrap the position all together.

Mr Najsarek said: “It is a tremendous honour to be asked to take Harrow Council forward and I want to do this working with members across the council.

"Naturally there will be questions about the future, and over the coming weeks I want to get to meet as many staff members as possible.

"One of my passions is staff and community engagement, and I look forward to working with the whole team and our partners on the next exciting phase of Harrow's journey.”

In a statement on Wednesday Mr Lockwood will be leaving his role in February next year after the council’s chief officers' employment panel approved a severance package in Tuesday.